Motivation
by A Little Bird
Summary: Karin Kurosaki has reiatsu as problematic as her brother's. Unlike Ichigo, however, Karin isn't equipped to defend herself from the Big Bads of the Hollow-world. Hitsugaya Toshiro endeavors to fix this. ..Toshiro x Karin..
1. Chapter 1

Because I felt compelled to support this pairing; Toshiro is already cool, but I always liked Karin. Momo kinda creeps me out for some reason. 0_o

This might get lengthy, since I plan on adding a few more chapters.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Tite Kubo & Viz Media do, I think. :/**

**""okay, as I went through this section to edit, I realized that if Toshiro were in a gigai he probably wouldn't be able to flash-step; however, he wouldn't be as cool if he didn't start out the story meditating, so I'm not changing it. :]**

_This is a Prologue chapter, of sorts:_

* * *

Hitsugaya Toshiro was meditating. He sat atop an office building that towered over the street below. As he concentrated he could feel tiny ribbons brushing against his mind, the reiatsu of Karakura's many residents. The humans were milling along in the town below. Hitsugaya could vaguely sense the general location of the other soul reapers deployed in the town. Matsumoto was closest, perhaps subconsciously wanting to be near her division leader. The lieutenant was easily guessed to be shopping in one of the local markets. She had spoken with reverence about a rather colossal place called the 'Mall'.

Suddenly one of the ribbons of reiatsu tugged on his mind, drawing his attention. He instantly connected the short burst of spiritual pressure with the simultaneous exclamation of "Kesu!" from the mass of people below. Scanning the ground, Hitsugaya saw the interruption to be a black-haired youth. This conclusion was rather obvious, as the girl had apparently kicked her ball in rage and was left to stare after it as it sailed away. The ball continued to bounce away from the girl, along the cement past the stairs down the hill and on its way to the street, where the ominous 'automobiles' roared and honked. Sighing a bit at this anonymous human's lack-of-control, the captain flash-stepped until he was at ground level. Then he trapped the ball with his foot, bringing the nuisance to a halt. With a flick of his foot, Hitsugaya caught the ball in his hands. For a moment he studied the thing, unfamiliar in its design, but identifying it as a ball. _A soccer ball_, he dimly recalled. He raised his gaze and locked eyes with the living girl. She looked stunned; Hitsugaya didn't blame her, as he probably appeared out of nowhere. Kids were sure stupid, or at least this one was. Just moments earlier she had been chasing the ball, jumping over the fence and skidding down the hill, all with a look of determination plastered on her face. That was idiotic - if she had followed the ball into the traffic..... Well, Hitsugaya would hate to be administer Konso on such a young soul. What was with these humans anyways? Were they all as reckless as Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends?

"Is this yours?" he asked, not missing a beat even as he studied her intently. A stupid social nicety; he knew perfectly well it was her toy.

"Yeah," she answered, nodding her head slightly.

"Be more careful next time," he scolded, tossing her the ball. She caught it deftly, staring at it in surprise. Employing the use of Shunpo, the 10th division captain was gone before she could lift her eyes.

Sitting again on the roof, Toshiro spared the child one last glance before settling down into a comfortable position for meditation. He resumed his training, a little proud, in the back of his mind, of his good deed.

* * *

Much later into the day, Hitsugaya found himself wandering aimlessly about the city. Okay, perhaps aimlessly wasn't the word; more like subconsciously. He usually headed for a certain spot around this time. It was evening, with the sun nearly set over the horizon. It was also Hitsugaya's time for patrol, though Ikkaku was likely to steal a few kills from him anyways. It was amazing what some shinigami did to fend off boredom - not that Ikkaku was one of those shinigami. He easily amused himself with combat, and combat really wasn't that amazing. His blood lust was however, a bit disturbing. _There's something not right about those 11th division soldiers_, Hitsugaya thought to himself.

Still strolling, Hitsugaya looked toward the sky. The view wasn't as nice as it may have been in Soul Society, but he appreciated it all the same. Hitsugaya scanned his surroundings for a bench. Seeing none, he made do with the railings by the hill and sat down to rest his limbs. But a dutiful shinigami as always, he pulled out his hollow-tracking device and stared at it, willing a Hollow to appear and rip a chunk out of his day. Metaphorically, of course - he was awfully bored. Minutes passed and none appeared.

At the sound of footsteps, Hitsugaya looked up. There before him stood the girl from before, recognizable by the sporty black hair framing her girlish features. She looked less helpless now, with her soccer ball strapped securely in a net at her side. Now that they were mostly alone, Hitsugaya was struck by the undiluted strength of her spiritual pressure. It wasn't _quite_ as blatant as Kurosaki's, and that made sense since she wasn't a Soul Reaper, but it was still abnormal for a human. _This town is practically inviting the Hollows with people like __them__ hanging around_, the captain thought. Then she spoke.

"You're the one who picked up the soccer ball for me earlier, right?" It wasn't really a question.

"Yeah," he answered anyways.

"Arigatou," she said.

"You're welcome," Hitsugaya replied turning back to his phone. But somehow, he was positive the girl had more to say. He tapped about three buttons on his Soul pager before the girl interrupted once more:

"Hey, what school are you from?" He scowled - why did everyone assume he was a kid?

"I'm not from any school," he snapped. He released a short, irritated breath of air. "And I'm busy, so go away." The words could have come out harsher, but the child seemed happy and innocent enough. It's not like she knew what she was distracting him from. So he held back.

Of course, that meant he had passed up a chance to scare the kid away, so there she remained. She continued the conversation, asking:

"You can play soccer, can't you?"

_Soccer, huh?_ He'd come across it before. It was the sort of game that children enjoyed, even in Rukongai. He'd never really cared about something so childish, of course. But he got the basic concept: kick, run, and some fancy taps with the feet to keep the ball to yourself. Nothing too challenging, considering his reflexes.

"I think so," he answered, a scowl still on his face. He was somewhat resigned, and he expected this girl would continue interrogating him until she got to the point.

"We have a game this Saturday. Would you play with us?" Behind her, her friends were arriving. They all started at the proposal.

Inwardly, Hitsugaya rolled his eyes._ One trick with the ball and she assumes I'm elite. _He felt a bit proud, but mostly skeptical. Oh, and disinterested, as this was completely irrelevant to his assignment. So he ignored the question.

One of the kid's friends grabbed her and they roped her into a hushed argument. He heard scraps of what they were saying. ".... bleached hair." "could be in a gang" "his expression is scary." That sort of thing. At least he was intimidating _somebody_.

"I don't believe anyone that short could actually play soccer."

_....................... What?! That insolent little brat!_

"What did you say?! Who are you calling short?!" _That's it, I don't need to deal with this crap. _He stood up and started marching away, fuming.

The girl, the only girl among them he noted, turned to face him. "I'm sure he was just joking," she said, trying to placate him. Then she realized he was leaving. "Oy, matte!"

Though Hitsugaya was ignoring them in a sense, he still felt the girl's spirtual pressure. Her reiatsu flared wildly out of nowhere. Warily, he glanced behind him, and the captain was alarmed to find her soccer ball spiraling after him. Reacting quickly, he flipped backwards and kicked the offensive thing away, inadvertently performing a bicycle kick. He aimed it slightly away from its kicker; he wanted to scare the girl, not punish her. So her teammate would have to take the heat.

Following his shot, Hitsugaya was amused to see it hit its target. He landed smoothly on the ground, dusting off his jeans. For a second there was silence. The children seemed to be undecided whether they should be impressed or frightened. It was the girl that convinced them. She broke the silence with a cheer.

"All right," she grinned, pumping her fist. And Hitsugaya found himself showered with praise and surrounded by a group of awe-struck children.

_This reminds me of my days at the Academy_, Hitsugaya thought briefly.

"Who are you?" one of them asked.

Hitsugaya sighed, answering, "I'm Hitsugaya Toshiro."

For a moment he was somewhat entertained that all of the brats went back on their previous assessments, complimenting his hair and his skill. He noticed the girl was separated from her possy. She was staring at something in the distance.

And then his device went off, its persistent beeping demanding his attention. Flipping open the thing, he checked the screen. _A Hollow_? His eyes found their way up to the girl's profile. She was muttering to herself now, murmuring, "This feeling again...." He was intrigued, but willed himself to check the screen again. _Damn, I'm the only one near it._ Without prompt, he ran off, ignoring the kids' protests. As he left, he heard vaguely, though he certainly wasn't listening for it: "We practice at Tagadaino park! Make sure to please come!" He kept on sprinting though, giving no indication that he'd heard.

Checking the phone periodically, he eventually found himself at a nameless park. Of more immediate importance was the Hollow, which was closing in on two spirits. The wholes were backed up against the ladder of the slide. Both spirits seemed a bit younger than the children he'd seen earlier, but nonetheless as scared as they would have been in this situation.

The Hollow itself was a tiny thing, resembling an overgrown mushroom with talons and a tail. He leapt out of his gigai, then into the air and sliced decively across the back of the thing's skull, killing it efficiently. The evil spirit was not cleansed, however.

It had been awhile since he'd seen it, but Hitsugaya instantly recognized the Gates of Hell unfolding themselves and sucking in the hollow's spirit, and the hollow went, with a bloodcurdling shriek. The captain was a tad surprised that such a weak Hollow had once been an evil person. With a tremor, the twin doors disappeared, leaving the area ominously still.

Hitsugaya stared after the gates, lost in thought until one of the pluses sniffled a bit. Cutting through the silence, it dragged Hitsugaya back to the present. He approached them calmly, wondering in the back of his mind who these spirits were, when they had died, if their death had been painful, and if they knew anything about their earlier assailant: the usual and sympathetic curiosity that a soul reaper experiences when they encounter a new spirit. But that wasn't important at the moment.

"Who..... who are you?" the boy of the two asked, stepping in front of the girl (_His sister_?) protectively.

"I'm here to help you find peace," he answered. The boy looked unconvinced, but the girl seemed curious.

With huge eyes, she looked at him and asked, "Peace? As in heaven?"

Hitsugaya hesitated. Was Rukongai considered heaven? It was not the first time a spirit had asked him that, but he still did not have an answer. Instead he replied,

"Yeah, something like that." With a gaze he hoped was reassuring, he prepared the two for their Soul Burial.

* * *

The next day passed without event. He considered dropping by the park to practice, simply for something to do. But he refused to abandon his post without adequate reason. So, he found himself back at the hill by evening, just as he had yesterday.

Perhaps in the back of his mind he expected the girl to show up again today as she had yesterday. He was not disappointed. A few minutes after he had arrived the girl sprinted her way up to him, her spiky hair billowing behind her like a shadow. She called his name from a distance, in recognition, before she finally approached, chest heaving. He tapped away on his Soul Pager, giving the child a chance to catch her breath.

"You again," was his greeting.

"Yeah, me," she panted, unimpressed. "Why didn't you come to practice?"

"I never said I'd play with you guys," he answered. "Besides, I don't have any free time."

At that, she adopted skeptism. "You're in grade school; how busy could you be?"

"Shut up," he sighed.

And she did for a moment. Then she opened her mouth again, asking, "Why do you come here so often? Do you live nearby?"

"No," Hitsugaya answered. He paused, staring up at the sky. Soul Society was nowhere nearby."This is the best place to see the sky from..... It's nostalgic," he concluded, reminded of his childhood with Momo. They shared a pleasant moment of silence before the girl broke it once more.

"Nostalgic, huh? Just how old are you?"

"That doesn't concern you," he huffed. _This girl_, he thought, irritated. _I don't even know her name and she already wants to know everything about me........ Wow, I __don't__ know her name. _The realization left him surprised, as if there were a buzzing in his pocket..... No wait, that was just his Soul Pager. There was a Hollow nearby. _Why does this always seem to happen when I'm with her?_ Now that he thought about it, the girl was always present when there was a hollow nearby. What if her strong reiatsu had something to do with it? Now thoroughly worried, the captain started to run off. But the girl grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

"Don't go that way," she said suddenly, looking both worried and stern. Then she seemed to pause, realizing her advice had come out nowhere. "Um, how should I put this?...... I feel there's something bad over there....." She probably felt it was a lame explanation - she seemed embarrassed.

_This girl, did she sense the Hollow....? _He found himself annoyed that he couldn't refer to her with a name. They both glanced down as his device went off. Flipping open the phone in a practiced motion, he registered the new information: the Hollow had been defeated. Probably Ikkaku...... The both of them visibly relaxed, even though the girl couldn't possible have seen what his Soul Pager had told him.

"So, you're coming to the match tomorrow, right?" she asked as he turned to leave.

He glanced back at her. Why did a soccer game mean so much to her?

Deciding on impulse, he answered, "I guess so." It sounded like another sigh.

The girl's face broke into a smile, then spread into a very wide grin. Hitsugaya turned to leave once more, but hesitated before taking the first step. He wanted very much to ask the girl her name. He glanced up at her, readying his tongue and: then an image of Momo flashed before his eyes, temporarily replacing the girl. He closed his mouth. The girl blinked her eyes, staring at him quizically.

"It's nothing," he said, raising his hand up in farewell. And he turned and left.

And really, he didn't need to become attached to_ another _girl.

* * *

The next day the captain decided the other shinigami would do just fine patrolling the city by themselves. Curious about the girl, Hitsugaya actually showed up at practice that day; not that it mattered, as he didn't join in and the others didn't see him. He was satisfied in learning the girl's name, as the team immediately greeted her with a cry of "Karin!" and "Did you find him?". It was nice to put a name to her face. Hitsugaya was mildly amused to learn that the Karin girl was the captain of her team. Just as the shinigami had captains for their squads, leaders in the Living World were considered captains too.

After a bit the children stopped socializing and began practicing, following an order from Karin. She was easily the most skilled on the team, he noticed. But they looked up to her for a different reason, it seemed. Watching them for a few minutes, he thought he knew why. The girl threw herself into the practice with as much focus and dedication as many Soul Reapers did when in combat. It actually reminded the captain of the Kurosaki kid, when he had fought to save Kuchiki Rukia. But it was more than that: the girl fought (_Played_, he corrected.) with heart. Soccer was something she honestly loved, and she threw herself into it with passion.

"Taicho!" Hitsugaya jumped at Matsumoto's greeting, still watching the girl. She waved happily at him before asking, "Are you a stalker?"

"Definitely not," he answered, annoyed. He returned his sights to Karin. "I'm just curious about someone down there." Perhaps he had worded that poorly. Matsumoto followed his gaze.

"Eh?!" she wondered. "You're in love with a girl from the World of the Living?"

"No, of course not," Hitsugaya replied, irritated.

"No need to be shy, taicho. She's very pretty," his lieutenant said coyly. Growling at his lame excuse for a lieutenant, her captain stood up and walked away. "I understand, sir! A man gets lonely sometimes!" she called at his retreating figure.

She heard him huff. Rangiku turned her head back to study the raven-haired girl on the ground below her. She really was pretty. The human girl kinda reminded Rangiku of Rukia for some reason...... Probably that whole beauty-with-a-purpose vibe.

* * *

There was no way he was going to explain to his vice-captain why exactly he needed to attend a little kid's soccer game. It was his turn for patrol, but the time overlapped with the game's time. The game itself wasn't all too important. Karin, however, was a matter of interest. And trouble. If the Hollow truly were attracted to her abnormal reiatsu, then she would be in danger. None of the Soul Reapers' patrol perimeters were near the soccer field; no one would be able to help in time if a hollow attacked. Hitsugaya wasn't willing to take that chance. So......

"Matsumoto, I have some business to attend to. I need you to cover my patrol area until I'm finished," he said this all in an official voice one could only obtain from a very serious dedication to his job.

Rangiku blinked at her commanding officer, before saluting. "Whatever you say, taicho." She dropped her hand. "What kind of business anyway?"

Hitsugaya avoided her gaze. "I'm still interested in that girl from earlier." Inwardly, he froze. Not what he had meant to say. Hyorinmaru chuckled distantly at his expense from his sealed state.

"Well, if it's in the interest of love, I've not problem covering up for my sloppy captain! You need a girl after all!" Rangiku chirped happily.

"Ugh, stop twisting what I said! That's not it at all!" Again, Hitsugaya averted his eyes. "I just have a feeling something bad is going to happen to her."

Sobering only slightly, she nodded. "Well, go do what you have to do. I'll go work my butt off for you, so it better be worth it!" And with that, she leaped off.

Hitsugaya sighed, again, and made his way towards the soccer field. Staring up at the clouds, it occured to him eventually, _At this rate I'm going to be late. _And he found he really didn't care, because he could feel the Karin girl's spiritual pressure, mostly foreign, but powerful enough it left little doubt. And she was safe.

* * *

Finally arriving at the field, Karin's team stared at him in amazement. Karin herself seemed to be overjoyed that he had shown up after all, but she still had the sense to call a time-out, rather than stare at his approaching form in disbelief, as the remainder of her team seemed to be doing.

"You're late," Karin accused, but it was more of a greeting. She was beaming at him and grinning as if she'd rigged the lottery.

"I never promised to be here at all," he retorted.

Then the other team walked up. He let them have their banter. The other team was composed of unimpressive jerks, but there wasn't anything special about them. Karin spouted some pep-talk to her friends and they cheered. "Let's sub in Toshiro!" At this, he protested:

"Oy, matte!" Karin's team turned to face him. "I didn't come here to play soc....." he trailed off as he laid eyes on her leg. A nasty, purple bruise was blooming just below her knee. _That looks painful_, he thought. He smothered his initial response to administed kidou. "You're hurt," he stated.

"What, this?" She wriggled her knee minutely. "It's fine!" she shrugged, a facade of nonchalance.

_That's definitely gotta get in the way of her playing. And yet, she keeps on going, _he thought mutely.

_A warrior at heart, isn't she?_ Hyorinmaru agreed. Hitsugaya valued that in a person.

Once more, the shinigami sighed, again in resignation. "Fine, I'll play for you guys." And he switched in with one of Karin's teammates.

The whistle blew, announcing the resuming of the match. Toshiro fell in step with the game rather quickly. At first he just sat back and watched, assessing the situation and formulating an appropriate strategy. Karin's team was doing fine, with the team captain herself dribbling the ball down towards the goal. He might not have to do much of anything at this rate. _This game isn't exactly in the bag for them, _he thought, _but with Karin's approach at the game, they have a chance of winning on their own_. Then an opponent player stole the ball and shoved Karin away. The girl lost her balance, but got up quickly, determined to win the ball. At this, Hitsugaya was stirred into action. He maneuvered himself so that he came at the player from the side, not physically harming the boy, but stealing the ball in such a manner that the boy lost his momentum and crashed to the ground. Hitsugaya stared coldly at fallen kid (_What a child_.) before realizing he needed to do something with the ball. Two of the other team's members came rushing at him. Having nothing planned, he simply side-stepped each player as they dived at him. He noted with distaste that their aim held little discretion between the ball and the player. Dodging another defender, the field was open between him and the goal. Aiming quickly, Hitsugaya shot the ball. It actually didn't go anywhere near where he intended, but it had enough force behind it to topple the goal's guardian-person into the goal. It was a score.

And so, the match continued in this manner for most of the game. Hitsugaya was growing annoyed. He wasn't supposed to be interacting the Living at all, least of all winning their soccer games. Everyone besides the Karin kid seemed content to sit back and let Hitsugaya score shot after shot. _This won't do. _But he wouldn't leave them standing in the dust, so he stole the ball and headed toward the goal yet again. He was relieved to find Karin trailing beside him as they headed to the other end of the field.

"You're doing great, Toshiro! Kick it!" she encouraged, sprinting to keep up with his pace. Seizing the opportunity to be rid of the ball, Hitsugaya passed it to the bewildered girl. At her unprompted question, he answered, "It's your team - you take the shot." She blinked once, then, understanding, faced the goal. A smirk appeared on her face as she prepared for her shot.

"Here it goes!" She yelled, winding up her leg and striking. Her shot was low, speeding quickly and neatly into the corner of the net. The strange goal-guardian didn't have a chance of intercepting it.

And then the whistle sounded, signifying the end of the match, which elicited a groan or a cheer from each respective team. Karin gazed proudly at her gang before turning to him, smiling like a high-school graduate. "It's all thanks to you, Toshiro."

"Pfft. You scored that goal, last time I checked," he scoffed. "Anyways, I have something more important to discuss with you."

She seemed surprised that there was anything on his mind aside from their victory. "Huh? Like what?"

"Earlier, on the hill, you....." Hitsugaya was cut off by a terrible screeching noise. The two of them looked up, eyes locking on a giant tear in the sky.

_I guess I wasn't wrong about her being in danger_, Hitsugaya thought as he checked his Soul Pager. _This is gonna be a giant Hollow! A menos?! _Did this Karin girl have the worst of luck?_ No_, he answered himself. _Just the best of reiatsu. Figures_.

Struggling out of the tear was a giant hollow, its body a bestial form, like a monster that had sprung from the sewers. Spotting Karin, the hollow lashed his arm out to reach her. Karin could do little more than raise her arm to defend herself, paralyzed with shock as she was. Hitsugaya, a well-honed warrior that he was, could do much more. He dove at her, knocking them both back as the hand reached them. Keeping his arms protectively draped over the girl, the two stared at the Hollow, Karin cautious, Hitsugaya calculating. As it turned out, Karin was not scared for herself. "Everyone, get out of here!" She yelled to both teams. The children didn't need telling twice - - they had seen the crater. Elementary and middle-schoolers alike ran for it, leaving the two of them alone at the park. Karin's team each managed one glance back at her and Toshiro by the crater before they fled the scene.

Then Karin snapped her gaze back to Hitsugaya, a realization dawning on her. "You can see that thing, Toshiro?"

"I'll explain later, just get out of here." He told her, glancing at her, then the Hollow.

"You're kidding, right? That thing will go after my friends!" she shrieked. _Oh, trust me, it's much more interested in you_, Hitsugaya thought darkly, but said nothing. Casting his arms off her shoulders, Karin's eyes darted about wildly before settling on a weapon: her....... soccer ball? _What is she __**thinking**__?_

Charging at the ball, the kicked it towards the Menos. The ball sped at the hollow's skull, the light surrounding suggesting that it carried reiatsu. But as inexperienced as Hitsugaya assumed she was, she didn't realize she had poured (very little) reiatsu in it at all. It was about as effective as a low-level demon magic spell - that is, it caused no damage.

"Nani? It isn't hurt?" She whispered, staring at her enemy.

_She's killed Hollow in that manner before? _Hitsugaya wondered, doubtful. He leapt out of his gigai, leaving the body to fall to the ground. Just in time too. The hollow's fist pounded down through the air, again aiming at Karin. Flash-stepping, Hitsugaya managed to swing Hyorinmaru out of his sheath and block the fatal blow. Standing in front of the girl, he did not hear her scream or whimper, even as he felt her reiatsu surge with adrenaline. She was strangely silent, and Hitsugaya wasn't sure whether she could see him. "Reign over the frosted heavens," Hitsugaya summoned, "Hyorinmaru!" With that his shikai was released. In a fluid motion, he grabbed the chain at the hilt of his zanpakuto and cast it at the hollow's arm, effectively freezing it. With a short pull, he tore the beasts arm off, and the oddly-shaped chunk of ice landed yards away. "With a captain in the World of the Living, you Hollow don't stand a chance," he sneered. Angrily, as if it had heard his taunting, the hollow conjured up a Cero, rapidly charging it. Hitsugaya acted fast; he jumped into the air, cutting through the beast entirely. The captain landed, and behind him, he felt the hollow freeze. Working with Hyorinmaru, Hitsugaya made sure the ice fell harmlessly to the ground around Karin. As the Hollow's spirit disappeared, so did the clouds that had come with it. The pair were once again bathed in the light of the evening sun. _Why do I always seem to be around her this time of day? _he mused, addled. He walked back to her. She was still sitting on the ground, blinking at the air around her with her huge eyes. Wordlessly, he held out his hand and helped her up. Un-wordlessly, he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Um, yeah," she answered off-handedly, a little distracted. She looked around her. "Looks like everybody else got away." She sighed, happily. "I'm so glad." She turned and inspected him. "Toshiro, that kimono you're wearing....."

"You do have very strong spiritual energy," he told her. "Even so, I'm surprised you can see me at all." What she did next was a bit more surprising. Not paying attention to the last few words of his explanation, she reached out and grasped his shoulders. At first, Hitsugaya blanched from the contact, wondering if she was suffering from shock. Then he realized it wasn't an embrace. It was a position of begging, as if she needed something of him.

"Do you know where Ichi-nii is?" she asked desperately. "In that garb, I'm sure you're a shinigami!"

Again, he was taken aback. "How do you know about shinigami?" he asked, caught off-guard.

"My brother is a Soul Reaper. Kurosaki Ichigo!" she said unsteadily. Her eyes were big and round, pleading for an answer.

"Kurosaki? You're his little sister?" He closed his eyes, a little shocked. Surprise, after surprise. What an odd girl. "That makes sense." He lowered his gaze. "Gomen, I'm afraid that I don't know where he is." He stole a glance at her, taking in her crestfallen face.

"I see," was all she said. Karin let her arms drop off his shoulders; he had forgotten they were there. She stared at the ground blankly, and Hitsugaya felt that she was concealing a great sadness from him. Overwhelm with the urge to console her, he thought up something to cheer the girl up, give her strength.

"However," he began. She glanced up, warily. "Your brother is training to become stronger, just as you are. You guys don't give up till the very end. That's just how you both are." Her eyes lit up, and in that moment, the captain felt as if he knew this girl. Stupid notion, really. But it was there, all the same. "Don't worry. He's your brother, after all," he concluded. _We've...... bonded._ was all the captain could conclude.

Karin gaze was grateful, her reaction maturer than he'd expected of her. Wiping her eyes, though she had not shed tears, she unleashed an unguarded smile upon him. "Yeah, you're right." The shinigami was alarmed by her innocence and expression. _This is the first time she's actually smiled at me_. He blinked, surprised at the observation. But he felt warm inside, like he had when he'd lived with Momo and his family. Content.

And then the moment ended with his lieutenant's distant call of "Taicho!". Surprised, Karin turned to face the new arrival. "I'm relieved to see that you are okay!'

"That person is a shinigami too?" Karin asked.

"Ah. She's my subordinate," he answered, tonelessly.

"So you have subordinates?" she mocked, arms relaxing into a position behind her head.

"Sort of," he hedged, thinking of his squad's discipline. "You're a little late, Matsumoto."

"Gomenasai, taicho," she said, addressing her boss. Spotting Karin, she pointed, saying, "I recognize her! What's her name? Can she see us?"

"This is Kurosaki Karin, Ichigo's younger sibling."

"Nice to meet 'cha," Karin supplied.

"You too! I'm Matsumoto Rangiku, Hitsugaya-taicho's fukutaicho."

"Wow," Karin turned back to Hitsugaya. "Toshiro, you're actually cool!" she patted him on the head, running her fingers thorugh his bangs. "And you're still just an elementary student!" She started rubbing his head, as if he were a puppy.

Her words and actions combined with her captain's reaction set Rangiku off into a poorly stifled fit of laughter.

"Elementary student?" he seethed, Rangiku laughing loudly in the background.

"Eh, what's wrong?" Karin paused. She seemed to not have realized she was insulting him. That made it a bit better. But only a bit.

So he exploded in her face, " I AM NOT A LITTLE KID!!!!"

But he held back. Just a bit.


	2. Chapter 2

**I've always wondered why authors waste the first few lines thanking viewers, but now i get it. It's awesome that people are actually reading this. So anyway, a small shout-out to one 'Ziya Hitsugaya': "Thanks for the idea, and I'm kinda thinking along those lines. Oh, and your feedback was actually motivating, so you're awesome for that. :]'**

**Then there's 'Telekinetic Lightning Ninja': "You've got a scary pen name, dude. :] And her floundering over Aizen was a big put-off, but I'm not sure I'd have liked her character even if she was level-headed. Thanks for the compliment, and yeah, it was a great ep."**

**You guys rock. :]**

**In other news, my last chapter wasn't flamed because there was nothing I could do wrong, just follow the episode. Now it gets a bit harder, because I have to pull a plotline outta my hat. Wish me luck!**

_Without further ado, the first chapter: Following the tradition of previous T x K fics, she will indeed learn more about Soul Society thanks to our little Ice Boy. Oh, and the lines in between that might lead up to another chapter. :p_

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 1.5, which rounds up to 2.

"I AM NOT A LITTLE KID!!!!"

His scream echoed back at him, just a bit comical, even to his own ears.

"Oy, taicho," Rangiku said suddenly. "Why don't you run along and play with Karin-chan for a bit, hm? I'll go take care of the patrol."

Hitsugaya raised his eyebrow at her. "Don't treat me like a child," he muttered finally, relenting.

"Excellent, I'll be going now!" And she left. Hitsugaya wondered briefly where she had abandoned her gigai. Then he remembered his own body and turned in his sandals to reunite with it.

"So, are you going to disappear mysteriously too?" Karin asked, staring after Rangiku.

He rolled his joints a bit, testing the artificial body. "I'll escort you home, I suppose."

"I still have some time to kill before curfew..... Hey! Do you wanna get some ice cream?"

Hitsugaya blinked. "Ice cream?"

"Yeah. It's delicious!"

Shrugging his assent, the captain followed Karin away from the battered playing field.("A lot of good it did us winning the field," he heard her mutter.)

"So," she asked as they walked, "What's been going on recently that's been so bad that Ichi-nii had to run off?"

Hitsugaya studied her before answering, deciding how much he should tell her. "A more advanced Hollow, called Arrancar, have been attacking this place."

"Arrancar?"

"They're humanoid hollow." And now the captain remembered the problem the girl's reiatsu had presented. "If you ever come across one, don't try to kill it. Just run for it." _Like that'll help if they're aiming for her_, he thought. Damn, he needed some way to protect this girl. _I'll figure it out later._

"So these Arrancar things are a new development? Why are they such a problem now?"

"Recently they've acquired an item that boosts their power."  
"Oh, and how'd that happen?"

Hitsugaya glanced at her. She was watching the scenery as they walked, trying to act as if she were making casual conversation. Her stance was at odds with the keen way she held on to his every word. "Three captains from Soul Society betrayed the Gotei 13 and-" Karin's head snapped back to face him.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah! What's Soul Society? And the Gotei 13? And how does this captain thing work? And-" she babbled, dropping all pretenses of not caring.

"Slow down, Kurosaki," he snapped. Then he relaxed. "You're Ichigo's sibling, I thought. How do you not know about Soul Society?"

At this, Karin scowled. "Well, shit, that baka doesn't tell me anything." The words were light-hearted enough, but she said them bitterly.

Hitsugaya sighed. "I guess that makes sense. It's illegal for normal humans to know about us. He was probably trying to protect you."

"Yeah," she agreed, but not really. "Probably."

Trying to distract her, he began, "Well, Soul Society is the Realm of Spirits." She glanced at him again, interested. "We shinigami live there, along with the exorcised souls."

"You live there? As in you're dead?"

"......... That was a contradiction, you realize."

Karin glowered at him, unamused. "Just answer the question, smart-ass."

_Troublesome_. "Yes, we are dead, in a manner."

"So my brother......?" She just kept dwelling on him.

"Kurosaki Ichigo is...... a special case," the captain answered, choosing his words carefully.

"How so?"

"Well, he obtained his powers illegally, for one. Also, he's still technically human. Plus there's that whole Hollow power that he's got," the last part was mumbled to himself.

"Nani? How'd all that happen?"

"Well, it all started with Kuchiki Rukia.............."

* * *

"So a zanpakuto is like a weapon that can transform?" Karin asked him around her ice cream. So far, the Soul Reaper's methods for combat fascinated her the most.

"Not exactly. They're a bit more complicated than that," Hitsugaya answered vaguely, cleaning off his own cone. Peppermint. He had initially been satisfied with vanilla, but the Kurosaki girl had refused to pay for such a 'mundane waste of desert'.

Letting the subject drop, Karin shivered. They were walking home, or at least Karin was. Hitsugaya was just there to ensure her safety. And provide information, apparently. Still, with the sun already set, it was cold out. The ice cream, while extremely tasty, only encouraged the goosebumps that had formed on Karin's arms and legs. The girl hadn't brought a jacket. Noticing, Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. Though he had no jacket himself, he was fine; even in his gigai, he was indifferent to the cold. The captain did feel a little guilty that he didn't have any article of clothing to offer her.

Still licking her Strawberry Bonanza cone halfheartedly, she trailed beside him. Hitsugaya kept track of her, focusing on her reiatsu. A problem kept coming to back to him. The girl's reiatsu was at odds with her vulnerability. He had to rectify one of these odd ends if he expected her survive the year. Without thinking further than this, he spoke up.

"Hey, kid!" She focused her attention on the snowy-haired shinigami. "I told you about reiatsu, right?" She nodded. "Well then, you'll recall that Hollow are attracted to large amounts of spiritual pressure, like your brother's or a Soul Reaper's."

Karin nodded, hearing what he was saying, but not entirely grasping his point.

"What I'm getting at is this: you have high spiritual pressure, yeah? But, really, you're not strong enough to take advantage of it."

"So?"

"_So_ you're defenseless, a liability. _Weak_."

"Hey!" she protested, punching him on the arm.

_Weak may be a loose term, _Hitsugaya winced inwardly. _What kind of child is taught to attack people? _His face, however, remained impassive as ice.

"I may not be as freakishly talented as you are, but I can hold my own against your average Hollow," she continued, cracking her knuckles. _The butterfly that thinks itself a hawk._

"However, against the _un_average Hollow, you're quite incapable." Her face fell, but she allowed the statement. "My point is that you need a way to ward off Hollow."

"How can I do that?" she asked, at loss.

"Well, the obvious approach is to train and become stronger. Then you might have a chance."

"Sounds good to me-"

"However," he interrupted, "you have no remarkable abilities, so I suggest the other option.'  
"Other option?" Karin prompted, ignoring the jibe.

Hitsugaya stared at her, his face a deadpan. He spoke slowly, mocking her without abash. "Your _spiritual_ pressure _attracts_ Hollow. _Hollow_ are _bad_. How do you solve this?"

Omitting the insult, Karin considered what he said as a riddle. Logically, she could only come up with one answer. "Turn off my spiritual pressure?"

Hitsugaya shrugged. "Don't turn it off; that would kill you. But same basic concept. You need to learn to smother your reiatsu, hide it from your enemies."

Karin seemed dissatisfied. "Isn't that cowardly?"

"You're a kid. It's a reasonable strategy."

"That's no excuse; you still get to duke it out with the monsters and you're smaller than me!" she argued.

Vigorously, Hitsugaya rubbed at his temples. It did little to ease the frustration the girl drew from him. Letting out an angry puff into the night air, he decided on a compromise:

"I'll make you a deal. If you learn how to mask your reiatsu, I'll teach you some basic fighting maneuvers so you can kill off stronger Hollow. Sound good?"

Pressing one delicate finger to her chin, Karin considered. Deeming it an acceptable trade-off, she agreed. "Good enough, at least for now."

Hitsugaya's eyebrow twitched. _This brat._

They resumed the walk home. After a moment though, the girl opened her mouth. Apparently she couldn't stand silence. _Ugh._

"Why didn't Ichi-nii have these problems when he was younger?" Karin muttered, mostly to herself. Hitsugaya took it upon himself to answer anyway.

"I suppose that's because his spiritual pressure never caught the Hollow's attention." Karin looked up, expression quizzical. "Don't misunderstand, his reiatsu is very powerful, but back when he was still a human it was nothing near as extraordinary. Interaction with spirits affected his reiatsu eventually, to the point where the Hollow could sense him," Hitsugaya distantly did he remember the details. "Then he became a shinigami, and that tends to increase the flow."

"So I have a stronger spiritual pressure than Ichi-nii used to?"

"Correct." That seemed to amuse her.

"Well, catch you later!" Hitsugaya, jumped, unaware they had arrived at the clinic. Karin took one, two, three uncertain steps toward her home before whipping around to speak. "I will see you tomorrow, right?"

Hitsugaya exhaled heavily. "I guess. I'll stop by some time and begin your training."

Karin grinned. "Sounds good to me." She spun around and left without another word. Hitsugaya stared after her, then redirected his gaze to the clinic itself. After a moment, he left, with one last glance at the house over his shoulder.

* * *

Arriving at Inoue's, Hitsugaya stepped in the small apartment. With a glance around the room he was relieved to find Rangiku was nowhere in sight. Neither was their orange-haired host. The captain figured he could spare a minute for food before he went to rest on the roof. He made his way to the refrigerator and opened the door. Then, his captain announced her appearance and Hitsugaya felt her................ well, she hugged him from behind with a squeal.

"Taicho, you're back!" Hitsugaya shoved the crazy woman off his back.

"Obviously."  
"Hey, what took you so long getting back? Did you have a date with Ichigo's sister?"

He swore he could feel a vein throbbing on his forehead. "Will you just drop that already?!"

"Yeesh, touchy." But she reached in around him and snagged an onigiri, handing it to him. "Night, taicho!"

Her boss only nodded in response, but that was just like him, so everything was normal. Rangiku yawned hugely as she made her way to the bedroom. Hitsugaya paced around the kitchen, chewing the riceball.

_This ought to be challenging. I've taught soldiers how to focus their reiatsu, but I've never had to explain the technique for masking it. Most people can do so naturally. Training her might be odd._

He swallowed the last of his dinner along with the last of his thoughts. Deciding it was time to turn in for the night, the captain walked over to the sofa in the living room and laid down. Then he released his soul from the gigai. Too tired to bother with shunpo, he made his way to the window sluggishly. Then he opened it, and the captain climbed the walls of the apartment until he was sitting on the roof. Without a glance at the magnificent sky above, the shinigami leaned forward on his stomach and searched the buildings below him. Satisfied that he could pinpoint the Kurosaki clinic from his view point, Hitsugaya set his Soul Pager on the ground beside his ear. Then he drifted off to a light sleep.

* * *

Kurosaki Karin awoke on a bright, sunlit Saturday afternoon. Glancing at the pink bed across the room, Karin surmised that her fraternal twin was already up and about. Karin threw off her own mint green blankets, but stayed in bed a moment longer, stretching. Then she stood up on the mattress and hopped off her bed, wincing a little as the impact jostled her knee. Growling, but shrugging it off all the same, Karin prepared herself for the day. She dressed in a black t-shirt and sweatpants so that she could run without trouble. Finishing up her routine, she jogged down the stairs.

As she had expected, Karin was met with the scent of food. Yuzu was baking breakfast, as she always did on weekends.

"Good morning, Karin-chan," her sister greeted from the oven, barely glancing up from the omelets she was frying.

"Yo," Karin answered. She sniffed as she entered the kitchen. "Rice and omelets? Sweet!" She grabbed a dish and prepared her meal. "But you know, you really need to get a hobby. Cooking all day for us must get boring, not that I'm complaining." Karin patted her sister on her head, mussing up her hair.

"GOOD MORNING, MY TWO BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS!" Karin rolled her eyes as her father made his flamboyant appearance.

"What do you want, old man?" Karin grunted, grabbing a pair of chopsticks.

"Only to wish you well on this wonderful morning," her father sang.

"Eh?" Karin squinted out the window. "What's so great about it?"

As her dad fumbled for an answer, Karin spotted a shock of white hair outside the window. _Toshiro....?_ _Oh man! I do NOT wanna have to explain him to my family._ With a sigh that was not uncharacteristic, Karin sat up and abandoned her breakfast. "You're right, it's better out there than being stuck inside all day. Later." And she slammed the door shut behind her.

"What's up with her?" Yuzu wondered aloud. "She seems off today."

"It's the springtime of youth!!!!!" Karin's twin promptly cut her parent off by stuffing an omelet in his mouth.

Outside, Karin glanced around. "I know you're here," Karin muttered, eyes glancing about. When he didn't appear, she sighed before shrugging her arms and saying theatrically, "Wow, I was starting to think he was cool, but I guess he's just a child after all."

"You're one to talk, brat," a voice muttered darkly from her roof. _And he comes for the bait,_ Karin thought dully. Then the kid leaped down from his post atop her house. They stared at each other, Karin amused while Toshiro seemed liable to hit something. Then, with a quick shake of his head, Toshiro whispered, "Come on." and Karin was left to follow the strange boy away from her house.

Jogging up to his side, Karin reminded herself of a puppy. She shuddered at her own analogy.

**[I have no idea why this line is here.]**

* * *

"What is it with you? Do you never talk unless you have to?" she chided.

"Aren't you going to ask where we're going?" he asked, unaffected.

Karin shrugged. "I figured you were getting to that."

"Remember our conversation about _training_?"

"Jeez, I remember. You're sorta annoying sometimes, ya know that?"

"Likewise, Kurosaki."

She frowned. "Karin."

"Whatever." She continued to glare at him. He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, _Karin_."

"Ah, you learn fast, Toshiro."

"Let's hope the same can be said about you," he replied, turning on the sidewalk and heading towards a small park.

"Ah, come on now. I know a park's fun and all, if you're a little kid, I guess, but I really wanna start training!" He didn't seem to grasp that she was joking. Instead, he threw a pebble at her. She dodged it neatly. "Besides, no one comes to this place anyway. The popular one's down the street, but I guess you knew that."

"First rule: shut up," he ordered, unsmiling. Karin refrained from rolling her eyes. "Moving on." He paced around the swing set. She trailed after him before giving up and settling in one the swings. He still hadn't spoken, so she began to rock back and forth using her toes. A few minutes into the silence, however, she grew restless.

"Toshiro," she began.

"Ah," he held up one finger, effectively silencing her. Karin grimaced, but her jaw remained locked. She was still bored however, so she pushed herself higher on the swing. After a bit, she found her rhythm. When she finally tired herself out, she sat limply on the swing, just staring up at the clouds. It was peaceful, in a way.

"That's better," her companion finally spoke. Karin blinked. "That was a meditation exercise. You're reiatsu has been quiet for a few minutes now."

"How's that supposed to help? I have to run and find a swing every time I'd like to avoid a Hollow?"

"Give me a chance to explain, idiot!" he rebuked sharply. Karin wasn't intimidated in the least, but she paid attention. Because she was a respectful person. Yeah..... "First off, you need to be able to calm down your spiritual pressure. This is somewhat different from simply relaxing your mood, but it's a similar concept. Relax your reiatsu, but stay alert while doing so."

"So I just gotta mellow out my inner chi?" Karin joked weakly. At Toshiro's blank stare she shook her head and said, "Never mind. It sounds kinda hard to explain though. I guess I'll just work on smothering my awareness. Maybe something will turn up."

"Or we could try a different take. Imagine your spiritual pressure as a white ball amidst darkness. Try in your mind to shrink the white until only the black remains."

"Um, okay."

She attempted to do so. _Black.... Black.... Black....... And then the white ball shrinks...... _It was an odd sensation, trying to picture something so abstract as her spiritual energy as a white ball. She made the ball glow for her own amusement, and she felt as if that improved her progress a bit. It was the strangest lesson she ever sat through.

They worked quietly a few hours into the afternoon. Karin felt as if she were getting nowhere . She compared the exercise to blowing a bubble; each time she thought she had blown a huge one it would pop just before it left the wand. The entire practice was quite frustrating.

Then, out of nowhere, Toshiro poked her on her forehead, startling her out of her trance.

"Oy, kiddo, I'm calling it quits for now."

Karin furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm the one who's training; why are you suddenly tired?" Something in her words caused Toshiro's ears to tinge red. Karin marveled at the oddness of his character. "Why do you need to take a break so suddenly?"

"Why's it matter why I need the rest? I just do, alright?"

"Easy, boy! Why are you so defensive?"

Toshiro directed his gaze away from her probing eyes. "Children who sleep well grow well," he mumbled. He glanced up then, resigned to whatever mocking comment she was sure to fling at him. So he was taken aback by her sorrowful expression and the far-away look in her eyes.

"Yeah," she murmured in agreement. Then she forced a lopsided smile at the unsuspecting boy. "I remember my mother used to say the same thing. Dad says it to us now."

Toshiro paused for a beat in the conversation. Then: "Your mother?" Toshiro's befuddled thoughts were interrupted as his Soul Pager's alarm cut through the air. Flipping open the phone, he quickly assessed the situation: "Hollow, at the other park."

The two locked eyes briefly before Karin sprinted off, calling over her shoulder, "This way! I know a shortcut!" They journeyed around a maze of alleys before finally arriving at a street corner. Between them and the park was a steady stream of traffic. But they could already hear the Hollow's unsettling shrieks.

"Take care of my gigai," was all Karin heard before Toshiro removed his soul from his body and began attacking the demon. The Hollow was nothing impressive, they usually weren't. It had a nondescript mask covering its fleshy, colorless body. It propped itself up on its two front fists, charging at the 10th division captain in likeliness of a gorilla. _This is odd_, Karin thought to herself as she watched the battle. _I've seen Hollow much stronger than this guy, yet his aura is a bit more... potent. Like there's another one nearby._ But a glance around revealed no evil spirits in the shadows. _And the pressure is close enough it has to be in this general area._ She shrugged it off for the moment. Finally finding an opening in the line of cars, Karin nudged Toshiro's body to follow her across the street. "I feel like I need to hold your hand, 'Shiro," she said lazily, even as she eyed the fight. The gigai did not answer, instead staring unseeingly before him with a somewhat apathetic gaze. "This gigai might be even more boring than the ice boy himself."

The fight was progressing somewhat, with Toshiro eventually finding a moment to strike between all of the failed offensives the Hollow was sending him. As Toshiro's blade cut through the Hollow's arm, Karin noticed his eyes widen, then follow the broken limb strangely. Karin too directed her gaze to the amputated appendage. The arm still held a trace of reiatsu about it, though it was not regenerating, as she expected. _What's the source of the spiritual pressure then? _Behind her, Toshiro finally succeeded in cutting up the Hollow. The spirit was dissipating when Karin noticed the arm twitch and felt the surge in reiatsu. Eyes widening with realization, she backed away, though she knew she wouldn't be able to escape in time. _There was another, smaller Hollow inside the other one's s body!_ She traced the things spiritual pressure, and it seemed to be burrowing underground, now surging up to emerge. Right underneath where Karin stood. She tried in vain to back away in time, but at her slow human pace she couldn't accomplish anything. Throwing out her hands before her face at the last second, she scrunched up her eyes and waited for the blow.

When it didn't come, she was shocked to feel herself splattered with blood.

"Damn," Toshiro hacked. "I'm such an idiot to have missed that!" He turned to follow the Hollow that had attacked him. Its form was strange, and it was very hard to see. It had a colorless, scorpion-like body with a tangle of grey hair amidst a white and purple skull. The creature darted through the air at an appalling speed before turning around sharply to aim another strike at the shinigami. Toshiro jumped up to meet it, slicing his sword through the Hollow in mid-attack. He then fell gracelessly to the ground, landing on one knee. Above him, the Hollow shimmered away into nothing. Toshiro spat out a mouthful of blood before heaving himself to his feet and walking over to Karin.

"Are you... okay?" Karin managed, badly shaken by his wound. The Hollow had ripped though his stomach, and the bloodied fabric blended in with the black. She could not assess how badly hurt he was, but she could guess. Her shirt was flecked in his blood. _I wonder if Soul Reaper's blood will be visible to people without spiritual awareness, _Karin wondered wildly.

"Ugh, I've been better," he responded faintly, collapsing by his gigai. Realizing she had been gripping the artificial body's hand, she relinquished it hastily. "Just let me rest for a moment, then we can head back to Inoue's apartment and Matsumoto can heal me," he continued, already fighting for air. Karin nodded unsteadily. Suddenly her legs felt unsteady too, so she dropped to the ground beside the Soul Reaper.

She eventually said, "I sensed a second reiatsu. I should've said something."

Toshiro immediately waved her off. "You're inexperienced; you didn't get what was going on. It was a one-time error on my part, and it won't happen again. I learn from my mistakes." Though the words were spoken faintly, they left no room for argument.

Karin allowed him his silence for a few more moments before hauling herself upright. She offered Toshiro a hand to help him up, as he had yesterday after the Menos. She marveled at the different outcomes of the two events, despite the opponents obvious differences in strength. Toshiro refused the hand, opting to struggle to his feet by himself. Karin let her arm drop, feeling a little lame. She watched as he stepped back into his gigai, letting out a sigh as he did so.

"Gigai allow Soul Reaper to recover their powers," he explained, stretching his arms above his head.

She nodded dizzily, not bothering to question him further as she might have at any other time. They began walking. Almost instantaneously, Toshiro wobbled, almost falling out into the street. Despite the gigai's aide, the soul was still injured. Unceremoniously, Karin slung the boy's arm over her shoulder, helping with the weight. When Toshiro resisted she punched him in his side without hesitation. He faltered, gasping for air at the blow, during which Karin said sharply, "I just watched a Hollow tear a hole in your gut, so suck it up and let me feel useful!" Toshiro hesitated, but allowed the girl to support his body, clutching his side throughout the whole ordeal.

The pair trekked their way through town, studiously ignoring the probing gazes of Karakura's nosier residents. And Karin allowed him many uninterrupted minutes of silence. It was actually unnerving, rather than relaxing.

Eventually, they arrived at the door before Orihime's apartment. Karin recalled her brother's classmate with ease, as she was always hanging around Tatsuki. Karin liked Tatsuki. She was sorta her idol, and anybody who was close to that girl couldn't be that idiotic. Much like her brother.

She released Toshiro finally, and he stumbled forward before regaining his balance with the doorknob. Regaining his composure, he opened the door for her.

* * *

"Really, taicho, you need to learn to stay out of trouble," Matsumoto scolded as she worked over her division leader. Both were in their shinigami forms, Toshiro sprawled out on the floor with his kimono top removed. Matsumoto hovered above him, hands aglow with what they called 'kido'. Karin had seen a bunch of nasty things throughout her life at the clinic, but she was nearly overcome with nausea as she inspected Toshiro's injury. There was a gaping hole in his abdomen. Although it was small, the Hollow had ran him through. Needless to say, there was a lot of blood.

So, deciding she wasn't a masochist, Karin sat back on the sofa at the other end of the room. Matsumoto worked quickly with the kido, explaining that it was harder for a Soul Reaper to heal himself. "Good thing the gigai helped clean this up, or else we'd have a real mess on our hands," Rangiku said, wiping off sweat of her brow. The assistant captain grinned cheekily at Karin. "Nice of you to drop by again, darling." She winked.

Karin jumped at being addressed so suddenly. "Um, yeah." was her verbose response.

"Matsumoto," Toshiro said slowly, in warning. Karin truly felt she was missing out on something.

"Relax, captain! In fact, that's precisely what I'm prescribing you, a day of bed rest. No soul-reaping for you today. I guess I'll cover again. I closed up your wound, but you're gonna have to hop back into your gigai so that it'll heal properly." Matsumoto added shooing motions with her hand, supplying comedic affect with her diagnosing.

"Hai," Toshiro grunted in response, already sliding down into the body. He deftly caught the pill as the artificial soul was cast out. Then the captain gathered himself to his feet and made his way to the bedroom, feet dragging across the carpet. Both Matsumoto and herself stared after the boy before Matsumoto chuckled. "Well, do you mind looking after him while I go on patrol?" Something about the fire in her eye scared Karin out of wondering Matsumoto's intention.

"Sure," she answered.

"Excellent!" Matsumoto really was to happy with Karin's answer. _She's scheming something, I just know it,_ Karin thought to herself. "Buh-bye!" And Karin was left alone in the apartment. Well, not entirely alone. Yawning, Karin trailed down the hall where Toshiro had exited earlier. She found the white-haired kid snoring lazily on the wide futon in Orihime's room.

_He's already asleep?_ Karin thought absentmindedly. If she were half as girly and sentimental as Yuzu she might have been touched by the innocence adorned on the young captain's face. However, she was more concerned with catching some shut-eye, so she thought nothing of it. "Ay, scootch over, will ya?" She poked the boy with her foot. Drowsily, Toshiro opened one eye, staring blearily up at her.

"The hell, Kurosaki?" he mumbled, wiping his eyes. She settled down on the bed beside him. Karin was reminded of her days with Yuzu when the two used to share beds. The same sense of comfort arose from this situation, despite the lack of familiarity with the boy and bedroom.

"Go to sleep, short-stuff," she yawned, rolling so that her back faced him. "You wanna grow taller, don't cha?" Not awake enough to be appropriately offended, Toshiro yawned in retort. He too turned his back to the girl and settled down into the covers.

And really, they were the same height anyways.

They closed their eyes and fell asleep.

**Lol, they actually are the same height. 4"4, I believe. Which totally means they belong together. 0v0**

**Toshiro's a few pounds lighter though. -_-**

**Anyways, there were about 3 or 4 passages in this chapter that alluded to other animes. The Hollow, for instance, were stolen from an episode of InuYasha. The one with Jiromaru & Kageromaru? Also, that whole 'springtime of youth' thing? That was a comparison between Isshin & Mite Gai from Naruto.**

**Did I say 3 or 4? Apparently I meant 2. :/  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Again, WOW. Love the Reviews. They're frikin awesome. :D**

**Anywho:**

***KK the Prophet - "Well, the general idea is ToshiroKarin, but one of the great aspects of Bleach is all of the characters and how well they interact with each other. I won't fall off topic, but I am gonna have some other characters and snippets of their lives. But pretty much everything will be from our two main character's perspective, and neither of them are Romantics. : p**

***lazyguy90 - Lol, very straightforward comment; I like it! As soon as I get this chapter up, I'll start updating periodically, I hope. So far I've been posting as soon as the chapter's done, but that's not a very smart method, I hear. :]**

***Nightraze - *rofl* Love that you dropped in. It's neat that you reviewed, even if you didn't have a rant. Seriously, for a novice author like me, it's the thought that counts, so thanks for the compliment and I'll try to update soon. ^_^**

***KarinKurosakiHitsugaya913 - oh wow, do you support KarinHitsugaya by any chance? :p Just wondering, what with the pen name and all. That's great that you recognized the Naruto passage. I always thought Isshin & Gai were very similar. Thanks for liking the story so far. :]**

***theblueturtle6 - I was reading the Character Profile book, and I thought it was worth mentioning. I kinda wish I had their blood-type, because they factor those a little interestingly in Japan. Equal Height is a sign of true love, lol. : P**

***SeEmYaWeSoMeNeSs - It probably won't be your favorite, because I don't think my plotline will end up being that great, but hope it amuses you at least. Thanks for the feedback too. =]**

**[[By the way, if you haven't noticed, I really like to use my smileys.]] :D**

**------Anyways, now that I've updated this story enough that people know it's rolling I'm going to try to upload chapters once a week. So every Sunday tune in if ya want the next chapter. And if I haven't updated, feel free to 'flame' me. :]**

**By the way, I was going over the plotline in my head, when I realized last chapter Karin learned about Ichigo's trip to SS to save Rukia. During that timeline, she would have already met Rukia, so she'd probably question why everyone she knows ends up being a shinigami, so I went back and edited. Check it out, I guess. It doesn't really make much of a difference, I suppose. : /**

**And so:**

---------------------------------------------------------------------------Before the 3rd Chapter:

**I wasn't planning on writing this, because I'm all about the time-skips and gaps between paragraphs/chapters, but this is pretty much fan service, mostly for KK the Prophet.**

_Hitsugaya reached out for the plum vine. He was distantly aware that this must be a dream, as he could distantly sense his stiff body lying on an unfamiliar mattress. Besides, plums didn't grow on vines......... Did they? He didn't think so, but at the moment, he wasn't sure. ...................... Wow, I could really go for a watermelon, he thought without eloquence. With a silent groan, he reluctantly wrenched open his eyes, and was surprised when the morning sunlight didn't attack him like a hangover. The sky outside was dark, but not quite nighttime. Somewhat disoriented, he lay in bed snoring softly, trying to find the motivation to get up when he realized his arm was resting on something that wasn't quite a pillow. _

_His deduction was reinforced when said 'not pillow' growled something intelligible and kicked his arm away._

_"Go to hell, Dad! It's the freakin' weekend......." and with a yawn the girl's voice trailed off._

_Oh, that's right, Karin..... Hollow.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. He again drifted off towards vague flashes of his memory mixed in with haunting stacks of paperwork, towering above him. Eventually, a thought occurred to him, and he bolted up in bed with the cry: "Karin, what the HELL are you doing in bed with me?!" He felt his face burning, and it was probably bright red...... with rage. This was rage-inspiring. Yeah._

_Groggily, the girl blinked open her eyes, not quite registering the situation. She then reached out and yanked him back down to the mattress by the neck of his shirt. "Toshiro, come back to bed," she whined, closing her eyes. Apparently she had woken.  
_

_"...... Huh?"_

_"You really need to watch some television. Figures you wouldn't get the joke," she said, sitting up now. She stretched her arms in various postures around her torso before hopping out of bed. She exited the room momentarily before returning to grab her shoes. "Awesome! It's only 6:40-something. I can still get home in time. Ja ne!" she said over her shoulder before bounding out of the apartment._

_For a moment Hitsugaya simply sat in bed, wondering "What the hell?" in all corners of his brain. Then the sound of the front door opening and shutting again invaded his ears, so he heaved himself out of bed In the main room he was met with the sight of Matsumoto. Her multiple shopping bags fell to the floor with a Thud! before she glanced up at her captain._

_"Captain, you've been in bed all day! Did you just wake up? Why?" she questioned, following him down the hall._

_"It's nothing of your concern, Matsumoto," he said sternly, trying without avail to rid himself of his bothersome vice-captain._

_"Karin just left; I passed her out on the streets. Did you wake up when she left?" She interpreted his silence as affirmation. "Why would that happen? Did she wake you to say good-bye? Or maybe....." Then she saw the bedroom, and the disrepair the blankets were in. Connecting the dots, she grinned knowingly at her captain. "You two fell asleep in the same bed!? Oh, I'm going to have a field day with this! If I tell Hisagi, the guy will owe me so much sake in exchange for the scoop!"_

_"I swear I'll fire you if even a whisper of this gets back to Soul Society!" Hitsugaya slammed the door behind him._

_"But taicho!'_

_"Leave me alone!"_

**Because I don't buy that characters subconsciously 'snuggle' with their crushes in their sleep. And that whole 'seeking body-warmth' doesn't cut it either, if you have decent bedding. :p**

* * *

Chapter square root of 9, where the above passage decidedly did not take place. :]

Karin arrived home without incident and enjoyed (well, tolerated) a warm dinner with her family. The night passed without event, though Karin had trouble falling back asleep. The next morning she awoke as usual, grabbed some breakfast and settled down to eat with her twin sister. Their father was already working in the clinic, so the house was relatively quiet, for once.

Karin picked at her meal, hazily attending to Yuzu's morning chatter. Then her sister finally grabbed her attention with the declaration:

"I think we should go visit Ururu-chan today!"

Karin blinked at the dazzling smile accompanied with this decision. "Um, sure. Whatever you want, sis."

"You'll come too, right?"

Karin hesitated before answering. _Well, if he wanted to train me, I'm sure he'd have shown up already. He did yesterday after all. _"Sure."

"Excellent! Just let me put away the dishes and we can leave." A few minutes later the Kurosaki sisters found themselves outside on the way to the Urahara shop.

"It's been awhile since we've seen those her and Jinta, huh?" Karin asked, not fond of the growing stretch of silence.

"I guess so. Don Kanoji hasn't been around recently either."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Karin joked, laughing at her sister's reaction. ("That's a mean thing to say, onee-chan!")

Then the two were interrupted by a voice.

"Twerp?" The twins looked over their shoulders simultaneously to see one Hitsugaya Toshiro standing behind them.

"Eh, what do you want?"

Yuzu glanced back and forth between her sister and the boy. "Um, Karin, do you know him?"

"Oh yeah. Toshiro, this is my sister, Yuzu. Yuzu, this is my.... friend, Hitsugaya Toshiro." Toshiro glanced shortly at Yuzu before redirecting his gaze back at her sister. Yuzu bowed, regardless.

"It's an honor to meet you, Hitsugaya-kun." Yuzu peered up at the boy from behind her bangs. "Might I inquire how you know Karin?"

Karin answered for him. "Soccer! We know each other from soccer."

"Ah, that's nice. But I thought all of your teammates went to our school? I don't recognize him at all. Is he from another elementary school?"

"Definitely not," Toshiro said immediately, cutting off whatever remark Karin was about to launch. He frowned. "I was going to..... _hang out_,: he forced out the term," with Karin today. Help her with her soccer technique. I didn't realize she had better things to do."

"Oh cut it with the wounded pride, ya ego-maniac," Karin rolled her eyes at the captain. "We were just going to visit Urahara Shop down the street."

"Uruhara Shop?"

"You know it?" Yuzu asked. Karin was surprised.

"Yeah. Their stuff is very.... useful." Toshiro eyed Karin meaningfully.

Entirely missing his implication, Karin asked, "Is there something wrong with your eye?" Toshiro sighed and shook his head, muttering something that sounded faintly like "Humans."

"Why don't you accompany us, Hitsugaya-kun? You can have Karin all to yourself when we get there." There was something unsettling about the twinkle in the girl's eyes, but Hitsugaya agreed nonetheless. So the trio walked down the last few blocks toward the store, idle conversation supplied by Yuzu and Karin to a lesser extent. Yuzu's constant talking seemed to satisfy Karin's no-silence quota. _They balance each other_, Hitsugaya inferred.

When they entered the shop, there appeared to be no one around. Karin poked a few candy-dispensers while Yuzu stepped towards the back of the shop.

"Hello?" she called out.

From the entrance a strange man entered, his already shadowed face hidden completely by the stack of boxes in his arms.

"Be a dear and help me out with this, eh darling?" the person asked as he dumped his load into the Karin's inattentive hands. "Hello, Hitsugaya! And what can I do for you this sunny afternoon!" the man sang, spotting the captain.

Hitsugaya's eyes widened. _Is Urahara stupid?! These two clearly aren't Soul Reapers. _Though it shredded his pride to do so, the captain managed to bite out, "Nothing; I don't feel like buying any candy today."

Karin blinked at the man, wondering why a shop keeper of a candy store was familiar with a shinigami._ I guess even shinigami can crave candy. And he insists he's not a child. Hypocrite._

Uruhara pulled out his fan, hiding his smirk behind the accessory. "Oh, is that so, Hitsugaya-san?"

"Yes, it is." Hitsugaya's eyebrow twitched dangerously with his answer. He was going to kill this man later.

"Is Ururu-chan here at all?" Yuzu asked. Kisuke didn't bother replying. For a moment, they wondered why. Karin was about to repeat the question for her sister when a small voice said from behind them:

"Yes?"

Yuzu tackled the timid girl verbally. With a squeal, she launched into a conversation about kittens or something. Karin smiled fondly at her sibling before turning back to Toshiro. "Okay, I'm bored now."

"Oh, that's a tragedy." It wasn't Toshiro who had replied, rather a short red-head that had just entered the shop behind Ururu.

"Jinta?" Karin squinted at the kid.

"The one and only." Hitsugaya glanced between them. Karin stared at the redhead, amused a little annoyed. "Any interesting Hollow activity?"

"Shh!" Karin shushed, glancing warily at her sister.

"What are ya worried about? Yuzu knows about the spirits," Jinta said, glancing behind him at the pair of girls. They hadn't noticed their conversation.

"Yeah, well, Yuzu doesn't know that _this_ guy knows." Karin pointed at Toshiro over her shoulder with her thumb.

"Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro," Jinta nodded, lowering his voice now. Karin blinked.

"You know him?"

"I know all of the Soul Reaper around here," Jinta declared, puffing out his chest. _Strange, I don't remember him, _Hitsugaya said to himself. Just then, another person entered the shop. It was clearly a shinigami, as Yuzu didn't falter during her discussion with Ururu concerning Chappy the Bunny, and he was dressed in a black kimono. Karin also noticed he was bald, and his head was impeccably shiny.

"Know him?" Karin asked.

"Uh uh." Jinta shook his head.

Discreetly, Urahara maneuvered the new arrival into the next room. That was surprising. The shop owner could interact with spirits? To her immense surprise, Toshiro slipped in the room after them, just as fastidiously. Not nearly as meticulous, Karin simply walked in after him, leaving Jinta in the dust.

In the next room Karin was met with the sight of the Soul Reaper conversing with Toshiro. "I need you to put on this uniform, Captain. It is of great importance!" Seemingly out of nowhere, the bald man pulled out standard Karakura High kendo team attire. Kendo had always interested her, but Karin had stuck to karate, simply because it didn't look nearly as ridiculous. This uniform did not disappoint, gaudy as she remembered.

Toshiro regarded the uniform shrewdly. "Why should I do that?"

"Come on, Hitsugaya, it's the only one we could find for you that fit!"

"We? Surely you didn't go shopping with Matsumoto? That doesn't coincide with your behavior."

"Quit being such a prat," Ikkaku retorted. "Sir," he added hastily, somewhat alleviating Hitsugaya's rather impressive glare.

Ikkaku then dumped the outfit into Toshiro's arms and spiraled around to face Urahara. He held out a lollipop wordlessly, and the two waltzed off towards the basement.

"What was all that about?" Karin wondered aloud. The basement door seemed normal enough, but she wasn't sure she had imagined the distant crashes that seemed to come from the door.

"That was Ikkaku Madarame," Toshiro explained, inspecting the helmet. "He's another Soul Reaper guarding this place against Arrancar."

Karin nodded. Three Soul Reapers were probably enough to keep the area safe. "And the Shop Keeper? Why can he see you guys?"

"Well think about it," Jinta had entered the room. "We work for the guy, and we're experts at fighting Hollow. He's our boss, so that should spell things out." Toshiro closed his mouth with a snap, shooting a brief scowl at the little boy for answering first. Karin nodded. _Full-time Hollow Slayer, part-time Willy Wonka with Oompa Loompas to boot. _She rolled her eyes.

Just then, Ikkaku emerged from the basement entrance. His smirk seemed foreboding, Karin thought to herself.

"I'm going to head over to the High School. Don't be late, Captain!"

"Hey! I never said I was - " Toshiro cut himself off, as the other shinigami had already left. Murmuring death-threats under his breath, he handed Karin the helmet. Jinta silently excused himself from the room.

"Wow, the guy didn't even notice me. Jerk." Karin stared after him for a moment, then returned her interest to Toshiro. "We gonna train then?"

"It'll have to wait, Kurosaki," Toshiro answered, hefting the Kendo suit over his shoulder. "I have to check this out, I suppose."

"You mean you're actually going?" Karin asked, surprised. Did he not realize he was clearly being led into a Kendo match? Though she had no idea what would persuade a Soul Reaper into participating in such an activity. Wasn't slaying Hollow enough? Then again, Toshiro had helped out in her soccer game, so she shouldn't complain about the shinigamis' capacity for boredom. _It's beneficial, if they're manipulated properly._

"Aa," he affirmed. Shrugging, Karin exited the room with him, waving to Ururu and Yuzu. She nodded at Jinta. "Ja ne, **Akaji-san." Karin mocked, referring to their competition for Karakura Red.

"Whatever. I'm still a shoe-in for the position," Jinta returned, smirking also.

Hitsugaya glanced between them, wondering at their relationship. Rivals, or the oddest of friends? _Probably a bit of both_, he speculated. _Or they're in love with each other._ That thought put him off, for some reason. He tapped Karin on the shoulder before leaving the shop, expecting her to follow.

She did.

* * *

"Give me one good reason I should participate," Toshiro bit out. He looked pretty pissed, Karin noted. She watched the group of shinigami from the door. No one seemed to have noticed her yet.

"Forgive me, Captain Hitsugaya." It was the man from earlier: Ikkaku. Karin couldn't discern whether or not his apology was sincere. "Please accept this." He kneeled down before the captain and pushed a tray of candy towards the boy.

"Are you mocking me?" Toshiro glared at the shinigami. _Looks like it, _Karin agreed.

"Why are you putting up such a fuss?" Rangiku asked. "You're already in the uniform."

"That's because this idiot," he jerked his head at Ikkaku, "told me to put it on without any explanations!"

"Gomenesai, Captain." The man bowed again. "This is a token of my regret." He again pushed a tray towards Toshiro, this one filled with spinning tops and various toys.

"You bastard," Toshiro seethed.

Karin was pushed aside as a student entered the room. The new arrival piped up, addressing the group of shinigami. "I convinced my little brother to give me the uniform. He's in grade were right, the protective gear fits perfectly." Karin snorted privately to herself. She could see the Ikkaku guy smirking to himself too.

Toshiro's reaction was as entertaining as expected: he grabbed the Ikkaku guy by his shirt, and said menacingly, "You're a dead-man, Ikkaku!" His eyes were practically alight with rage.

"I want to win this match," Ikkaku answered simply.

"Apparently. But it's still an inconvenience for us." Karin glanced behind her, where a red-haired student had entered. Every visible inch of tanned skin was covered in tribal tattoos, and he had a bandanna covering his.... eyebrows? Or were they more tattoos? _I don't recognize him from Ichigo's school._ But he seemed to know Toshiro and his group.

Karin heeded the group's banter, an unnoticed observer. They briefly brought up Urahara and Sado Yasutora, another classmate of Ichigo's. Karin was immediately suspicious of the whole lot. Only Keigo Asano, one of Ichigo's idiot friends, seemed clueless as to what was going on. That was a reassurance. She wouldn't feel very safe if Asano was spiritually gifted, like her brother.

Toshiro approached her finally, as Ikkaku roped Asano into standing in as a participant. "This should be over shortly. Sorry to waste your time, I guess."

"You really didn't see this coming?" Karin chuckled.

"Obviously."

Together they headed out to the arena, leaving everyone else behind in the room.

"You look ridiculous, you know that?"

"Shut up."

* * *

Karin felt zoned out. She was sitting away from the audience, opting instead to watch from the Karakura team's spot. Beside her Rangiku was fiddling with her skirt, equally as inattentive. The announcements for the beginning of the event were proceeding, and Karin wished they would just get on with it. They didn't really need to introduce either school, did they?

"What do you know about Hitsugaya-taicho's injury?" Rangiku asked out of the blue. Seeing Karin's quizzical expression, she elaborated. "The wound yesterday, with the Hollow. The thing couldn't have been that tough, or else a warning would have sound off. What happened?"

Karin directed her gaze straight-forward, watching the two participants approaching the arena. One of them was Toshiro.

"Um.... there were two Hollow. They sorta teamed up, I guess. One of them remained hidden and caught him off guard, anyways."

"Is there more to the story?" Rangiku probed. Did the woman have a sixth sense?

"Ano......" Karin watched as Toshiro beat his opponent in one smooth movement. "Well, the Hollow had come after me, so I guess I was a bit of a distraction. I doubt Toshiro would've been injured otherwise. He's fine now, I guess."

"Yep, definitely is." Matsumoto agreed, suddenly satisfied. Karin's intuition told her Matsumoto was seeing more in her answer than was there. She was a human; it would look bad for Toshiro if he allowed Karin to be injured while she was there. _Still, it was a heroic action_, Karin allowed herself to admit that much.

Having won his fight, Toshiro sat down beside them.

"You looked like you were having fun," Rangiku teased.

"Lay off," the captain retorted. Karin smiled. He was heroic alright. Then the girl stiffened. _Hollow._ Right on cue, a group of cell phones rang, alerting the group to its presence. Toshiro glanced at her, then Rangiku. "Stay here," he told Karin, already taking out his pill. He swallowed it on the same breath, releasing himself from the gigai. Karin spotted four other shinigami follow after him.

_Five Soul Reapers for one town? That seems a bit overkill. _Feeling uneasy, Karin remained sitting, listening to Asano's incredulous observations of the mod-souls. Her agitation subsided slightly as she felt the Hollow's aura diminish. It had been a big Hollow, probably another one of the things that had attacked her soccer team. But Toshiro had taken on a Menos just the other day, all by himself. Surely between the five of them, Toshiro wouldn't injure himself again. _I want them __all__ to be safe_,_ really. Sounds kinda cheesy when I put it like that_.

She was starting to reminder herself of the characters in Yuzu's shoujo manga. She herself preferred Shonen Jump. Oh yeah, the new chapter of Naruto had come out Thursday, hadn't it? She made a mental note to borrow the magazine from one of her soccer-buddies......

"Careful. If you keep on concentrating like that, your face might stick that way," a feminine voice teased above her. Rangiku and Toshiro slid into their respective gigai beside her.

"Later," Toshiro said abruptly, standing up just as he returned to his body. Grabbing Karin by her forearm, he led her out. A snicker sounded behind them, which seemed to irk the captain beyond all reasoning. "Get a life, Matsumoto." _What is it with him and his lieutenant anyways?_ Karin wondered.

"Don't you wanna find out how the match ends?" she asked, turning her head back from the room where the event had ended.

"Not that it matters, but we probably won. I'm more interested in that Hollow. How did you survive your brother's transformation, anyway? You can't last a day without attracting Hollow." Despite his complaints, Toshiro seemed mellower now that the threat had been eliminated.

"How do you know the thing was after me? It probably sensed you guys and decided to have a Shinigami feast. I don't blame the Hollow; with you guys being in one place, I'd jump at the opportunity too."

Toshiro rolled his eyes. He did that frequently. "I guess the group of us in one place might've tipped the beast off, but you were the one blaring your spiritual pressure."

Karin sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Sometimes I think my reiatsu is the equivalent of a neon sign screaming 'Attack me!'."

"Neon?"

"You're hopeless."

* * *

"You're terrible at this, you know," Toshiro said conversationally as he monitored Karin's (lack-of) progress.

"Shut up. You're distracting me," Karin mumbled, furrowing her eyebrows as she continued to concentrate.

"If it takes all of your focus just to mask your reiatsu, then there's really nothing I can do to keep you alive. It should become second nature."

"Like sarcastic retorts?" she muttered (sarcastically) under her breath.

"Yes, exactly." Karin jumped, startled he had heard her.

Giving up entirely, Karin climbed up on the jungle gym, settling on the bar beside Toshiro. The boy was looking toward the sky once more. It was evening, and the park was bathed in a warm orange glow.

"What sort of memories did you say the sky brings up?"

"Hm?" The shinigami glanced at her before resuming his study of the sky. "It reminds me of my home. Childhood, family, that sort of thing."

"You have family in Soul Society?"

"Aa. I have a grandmother, and also a sister."

"Ah." A comfortable silence settled over them. For once, Hitsugaya was the one who decided to break it.

"Your brother, what is he like?"

Karin didn't look saddened as he had expected. Apparently his pep-talk had done some good. She had a fond look on her face, the expression of a younger sister that looked up to her sibling.

"He's very protective, really strong too." Nothing the captain didn't already know, if the incident with Kuchiki Rukia was any indication. "I remember he used to have to defend me and Yuzu all the time when we were younger." Hitsugaya was surprised; he had figured Karin was always this aggressive. "We started sticking by Ichigo's side a bit more during that time, so when I met Tatsuki, I decided to grow a backbone, like my brother." Karin flashed a lopsided grin at him. "Ichi-nii used to be a bit of a wuss too, before Mom's death." Hitsugaya's eyes widened, taken aback by the news. _They lost their mother? _"What was your sister like?" Karin continued, oblivious to his reaction.

It was an uncomfortable alternative, but talking about Momo might distract Karin from dwelling over her own family-issues. "Well, I'm not actually related to her. Most people in Soul Society never find their family." That was a bit blunt. "But usually you form new families with the people you meet there. I ended up staying with an old lady and a girl named Momo. We grew up together, and eventually she left to attend the Soul Reaper Academy."

Karin was intrigued. "That sounds interesting. Did you two train together?"

"No. I had no intention of attending that place."

"Really?" Karin blinked. "That's surprising. You seem to take your job very seriously for someone who never wanted to become a shinigami in the first place."

"Honor and duty are good principles," he muttered in response. Karin nodded her head in agreement.

"So, had Momo already graduated before you decided to join?"

"Not exactly. The school was.... somewhat necessary. My reiatsu used to be as bad as yours. It affected my family, and I didn't want to burden Granny, so....." he trailed off before resuming. "Matsumoto was the one who discovered me and advised me to attend the academy."

"Huh. No wonder you two are close."

"It was an interesting meeting," Toshiro allowed. "After that, I pretty much blazed through the education system. A few months later, I released my zanpakuto and after a....... test," Hitsugaya grimaced, thinking of Sojiro's death. "I was allowed a postition in the 13 Court Guard Squad."

"What happened to the Momo girl?" Toshiro eyes glanced down, and Karin decided his expression was either ashamed or miserable.

"She joined the Gotei 13 also. But her captain was one of the three that defected. It really shook her up - she looked up to the man, adored him." Turquoise eyes gazed wistfully into the sunset. "She's not coping so well now."

"So you're in the same boat as me. Stuck worrying about your idiot sibling." Karin empathized with him.

"I suppose." They watched the sun set, maudlin.

"I guess I should head out," Karin eventually said.

"Aa."

"Catch ya later, 'Shiro."

"Don't call me that!" It really was too easy to rile the young shinigami up.

"Why not?"

"It's degrading, that's why."

"What, because it's such a _cutesy_ nickname?" Karin snickered.

"Exactly, Kuro-_chan_." Toshiro retorted with a sickly sweet voice.

Karin grimaced. "Point taken, Shiro-chan." With that she dropped to the ground and jogged off, stopping briefly to wave farewell. As she rounded the corner, she could feel Toshiro's gaze locked on her. It was strangely reassuring.

****[Akaji means "deficit", and is an japanese expression with the word red or 'aka'.]**

**The next few chapters are probably going to seem pretty plotless, and in reality, they kinda are, but I've got something sketched out in my mind. So the next few chapters will be building blocks for the actual climax and such for this story. Think of these first few chapters in terms of the first few episodes of BLEACH; Ichigo fought Hollow after Hollow, all the while bonding with Rukia before BAM! the plot arrived and he had to go save her. So after about 2 or 3 more 'filler' chapters the story will get more interesting, so bare with me. :]**

**In other news, am I the only one that thinks 'Ordinary Day' coincides eerily with episode 132? I usually don't go for Vanessa Carlton, but that whole 'he was looking towards the sky' line had me reading a BIT too much into the lyrics. I connected the dots (had to draw a few myself) and declared it a HitsuKarin love-requiem! __;;**


	4. Chapter 4

**To the awesomest reviewers: Thanks for reading/commenting on my last chapter; makes me feel like people are actually reading this, which is stellar.**

**And thanks, chiharuSAICHI, for the editing notes. I never catch half of this crap, anyways, so it helps out a lot when somebody else catches it. :p And to lazyguy90, I don't have a problem with your reviewing, so just put down two letters on the next review if it makes ya happy. For the generic questions, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to post every Sunday, and hopefully I'll be able to get ahead on my story if I keep up like this. I kinda had to struggle this week, because I had to attend an Honor Band clinic this weekend, but from now on it should be a breeze. Hopefully.**

**=and as a little point-out-the-obvious moment, I'm not going to rush into romance or fluff for this story. you could probably tell that from my writing. i'm just gonna bond these two ever so slowly, then they'll make even more progress if I end up making the sequel I'm planning. Oh, and I'm not going to immediately pull out the Karin becomes a super-special-awesome Shinigami plot card until much later into the story. if i do at all. ?evil laugh?=**

**Thanks to Mary-Loki, LazyGuy90, KMZ, NightRaze, chiharuSAICHI, kawaii san, KK the Prophet, The Blue Turtle, and KarinKurosakiHitsugaya913 for the reviews. Hope this chapter entertains you readers!**

-------------------------Chapter 10+(-6)

The bell rang as Kurosaki Karin settled in her desk. Her teacher began their lesson by attempting to review their arithmetic, but the professor's heart wasn't into it. Even the adults acknowledged the day was too nice to simply stay put willingly indoors. Everybody on the campus was rather restless. Finally, Karin's professor gave up – nobody was paying attention. She wrapped up her lecture in record time, then excused the class with a 15-minute break, giving them a bit of free-time before the end of the school-day. The teacher, herself, slipped out into the break room.

Tohru, her teammate with the afro, approached her desk, followed by the rest of her buddies. "Hey, Karin!" he greeted cheerily. "Did you ever figure out what went down at the soccer field?"

"Yeah, we never got the full story on that one." The blonde one added.

Karin scrambled for an answer. "Oh, um, a pipe burst. Yeah, it exploded... With a boom!"

"Boom?"

"Boom!" She gestured wildly with her hands before changing the subject. "Anyways, the field's still kinda torn up, so I guess we'll have to practice around it."

"Why don't we just skip practice until the grass grows back?"

"Because we're not slackers, that's why!" Karin retorted. Her teammates hung their heads, anticipating this reply. Karin was displeased at her team's lack of enthusiasm, but despite their responses, they loved soccer nearly as much as she did. So, she let it slide.

"Whatever happened to Toshiro-sempai, anyways?" another asked.

"Yeah! I want him to teach me some of his moves!"

Karin rolled his eyes. "If you see him around town, be my guest; ask him to play."

"I'm not sure that would work. He only spoke with you anyways." The others nodded their agreement, jealous.

_Yeah, who doesn't want to be friends with the Grim Reaper? _Karin thought sarcastically. "Whatever, guys. I'll call you later to tell you when practice is. Do well in school, boys." She smirked at them before crossing the classroom to sit with her sister.

It was undisputed that Yuzu was the more popular of the sisters – an extrovert and charismatic sweetheart. Karin, on the other hand, was not a social butterfly. When it came to socializing, she resembled her brother: people either respected her, followed her, or tried to mess with her. Not all of Yuzu's friends fell into the happier categories. Regardless, Karin stood beside her sister and dutifully contributed to their conversation (a debate over the best episode of Fruits Basket). She imagined she could feel the beginning of a headache.

Just then the bell rang, freeing Karin from her classmates. Her first initial reaction was to race out of room and evacuate the campus, but as she started to act on this she slid to a stop outside the door. Grinning sheepishly, she remembered to wait for her sister. Karin managed to muster up some level of patience for her sister, the only person she would do so for. By the time Yuzu had finished gathering her things and bidding farewell to her friends, the hallways were mostly deserted, though not at the time Karin would have opted for. Outside, however, the student body was loitering, gathering in groups and chatting with their friends.

Karin's 5th grade class was jointed in a building between the middle school and the elementary, so the after-school crowd was colossal. _Hm, there aren't many clouds out today. It's good weather for soccer. Maybe I can find some time to practice today._

"Isn't that your friend from the other day?" Yuzu's inquiry disrupted Karin's zen-mode.

"Hm?" A small crowd of four or five middle school girls were staring at some one. Karin hopped up, shorter despite being Yuzu's twin, to see what Yuzu was staring at. Then, mid-hop, she locked eyes with Hitsugaya Toshiro, looking quite out-of place with his standard Karakura High School uniform. At least, that seemed to be what the girls in the crowd noticed first.

"Karin," Toshiro sighed, but if he was relieved by her presence he hid it well. He made his way over to them, stoically ignoring his few spectators.

"Um, what the hell?" Karin voiced bluntly. Yuzu's greeting was a bit more collected.

"It's nice to see you again, Hitsugaya-san." She inclined her head politely.

"Aa," he acknowledged.

Karin sighed. "You're here for practice, right? Geez, you're really jumping the gun with this training stuff, aren't cha?"

"I guess."

"Huh. You look kinda nerdy in the school attire, ya know."

"It's required!"

"Oh, so the great Hitsugaya plays by the rules of lowly humans now?" The joke blew over the onlookers' heads, but elicited a smirk from said captain nonetheless.

"As if," he replied.

"I doubt you're that high and mighty, little Shiro-chan. I bet Japanese is the only subject you're passing, and that's only because you've been speaking it for about - "

"Ano, Hitsugaya-san," Yuzu intervened, making Karin realize just how caught up she was in their banter. "The high school doesn't let out for another hour. How are you able to be here?"

"He-"

"I skipped school to come here and pick up Karin," Toshiro answered shortly. He was getting fed up with Karin answering for him all the time; he blended in with the human world better than any of the other idiots assigned to this godforsaken town anyways.

Yuzu managed to appear impressed and disapproving at the same time, but blinked the reaction away and smiled at her sister. "Wow, you two must really like each other. You can go on with Hitsugaya-san then." She said, cheeks stretching to display dimples.

"Yuzu, it's not like that," Karin began, miffed. It was bad enough that Yuzu thought she had a boyfriend, but she didn't want her twin to feel like she'd rather fool around with a boy than spend time with her sister. That wasn't the case at all.

"Dinner's at seven, so don't be late, alright?" Yuzu said, with a smile as gentle as her shove. Karin stumbled beside Toshiro. _I'm happy to see you happy. _Yuzu's thoughts were an open book.

Accepting she was being brushed off, although in a profoundly affectionate manner, Karin nodded. With one last wave, Yuzu walked off, Karin and Toshiro heading in the other direction.

* * *

"Did you really skip school, or did you even go there at all?"

"Madarame and Ikkaku are stationed there today, so no, I didn't go," Toshiro answered.

"Stationed?" _That's how I feel when I'm at school,_ Karin grumbled to herself.

"Aa."

Then Karin frowned. She had been experiencing one hell of a headache today. At first it had just been an uncomfortable buzz in the back of her mind, but now it had grown more than that. Something about the migraine was distinct, which probably meant there was yet another mourning spirit lingering in Karakura. While lamenting spirits didn't try to eat her soul, like Hollow, they were equally painful to be around. The worse the regret, the worse the mental pains. Which, considering the stabs in her brain, meant it was probably a pretty lonely spirit.

The paranormal world was out to get her. She wished she still had the prescence of mind to ignore it, but ever since Ichigo became a Soul Reaper, she'd been paying a lot more attention to the small fry of the Spiritual World. Which was cool, when she met people like Matusmoto or Toshiro, but was very aggravating when she was constantly being bothered by demon low-lifes and loser spirits. Ichigo didn't attract lonely spirits anymore, he was too busy playing hero. Now they all seemed to find their way to his younger sister.

"You mind if we take a detour?" Karin groaned, rubbing her scalp.

"Why?"

"You ask too many questions," she grumbled, nudging Toshiro along the next block.

"It better be important then," Toshiro relented. That surprised her, distantly. She had expected him to put up more of a fuss, but he was becoming more lenient around her. Relaxed even. That pleased her, somewhere in the back of her mind.

"It'll probably interest you. Hey, your cell phone can track Hollow, can't it?"

"Aa. Why?"

"Doesn't it alert you to normal spirits?"

"Not this one. This is a Soul Pager assigned for my mission, but performing Konso on the average soul is a job reserved for the local Reaper. Although we end up exorcising spirits we come across when we eliminate Hollow."

Hitsugaya trailed off; Karin didn't look like she was listening. She was staring at something, squinting, as if she had stepped out from a dark hole and into sunlight. Then, out of nowhere, she sprinted up to the building before them. _Nani?_ There was nothing special about the structure, just a run-down apartment complex. Deciding the girl must have her reasons, he followed the Kurosaki. He was surprised to hear her speaking.

"Hey, are you alright?" Karin asked gently. Before her was the silvery form of a small child, a girl huddled in on herself. She was cradling her head in her hands, with a broken Chain of Fate visible beneath her arms. When Karin didn't immediately go away, the spirit looked up.

"Can.... can you see me?" the girl wondered, staring up at Karin with huge eyes. Blue eyes.

"You're a young one. I guess it's a good thing I don't see many dead children hanging around." Karin nodded, her voice soft. The girl, realizing the state she must be in, sat up. "So, will you tell me your name?" Karin asked.

"Hana. Ichirinn Hana."

"That's a pretty name. I'm Karin. Just plain old Karin."

"I think it's a nice name," the girl murmured, peering up at Karin from under her bangs. She shifted her gaze to Toshiro, staring at his hair in wonder. Hitsugaya shifted, uncomfortably.

"Thank ya. How old are you, anyway? I'm eleven, but you look a little younger."

The spirit nodded. "I'm five, now, though I think I would've been six if I hadn't die." The girl's voice spoke about her death with an innocence only a child could maintain.

Karin nodded sympathetically. "Would you mind telling me what happened, Hana**-**chan?"

"I-" the girl started sniffling, then shook her head, unable to answer. She was abruptly distraught. Her reiatsu pulsed then, the memory triggering anguish.

"It's okay, I'm sorry," Karin almost sang the words, reaching out to hold the girl.

"Are you being maternal?" Hitsugaya wondered aloud. Karin's hand hesitated, and she glanced at him.

"No, dumb-ass," she frowned. Then her eyes found Hana's sobbing form again. "I've grown up taking care of a little sister though."

The instant Kain wrapped her arms around the soul's crying head, the the two's reiatsu began to swirl around them, and it cloaked them in a cloudy mist. Karin let out a gasp, and her gray eyes glazed over while the ghost's eyes closed abruptly.

_Oka-san.__ Happy. Her mother was finally home, so the they could finally eat dinner._

"_Your birthday is coming up, Hana. Do you know what you want?"_

"_Yeah! I want to go to the carnival this weekend with my friends! We're going to win goldfish! Can I go?"_

"_Of course you can. I'd be happy to take you."_

_Oka-san.__ Ecstatic. "I love it! I can wear this to the festival?" Hana modeled the deep blue kimono for her mother, the two girls giggling like sisters._

_Oka-san.__ Impatient. "Where is she? The festival's already started. She promised!"  
__Oka-san.__ Repeated. "What happened to her?" Arms of a stranger, squeezing her shoulder. "What do you mean?" Tears welled up in her eyes._

_Oka-san.__ Confused. "A funeral?"_

_Oka-san.__ Prayed. The months passed,in strange lurches of time. She never bothered to wear her kimono again. She tore it up _

_Oka-san.__ Her last thoughts before the car outside the apartment hit her. She fancied she saw a masked skull chasing after her before she departed her body._

_Then blinding pain._

Karin didn't realize she was screaming until Toshiro's arms started shaking her shoulders. "Karin, Karin!" His eyes were wide with alarm. Hana was nowhere in sight. Panting, Karin collapsed. Her legs felt weak and she felt like her heart was trying to rip itself out of her chest, it was hammering impossibly hard. "Are you alright?" Toshiro managed, bewildered as he cradled Karin's trembling body in his lap. Awkwardly, he patted the girl on her back. It seemed to shock her out of her state. She moved out of his personal space, falling without grace onto the concrete beside him.

"I think, " Karin said, shakily, "I just died." And that was it. That was the only thing that could imitate that _sensation_ as she felt her soul being wrenched from her body. Though it had not really been her soul, or her body. She shivered at the mere memory of the pain the girl must have endured. Hitsugaya was appalled, finally understanding her devastated reaction. _Shit, I can't believe I let that happen to her._ He beat himself up, mentally. _I'm such an ass! How did this even happen? _

Karin moved her head side to side, while he berated himself. She searched the area with her eyes, not trusting her legs to carry her weight yet. "Where'd Hana go? I need to speak to her."

That reclaimed his attention. "Are you crazy?!" Toshiro nearly shrieked, his feathers quite ruffled. "You've pretty much been scarred for life and all you can focus on is her?!"

"I need to talk to her!" Karin repeated, tears springing up in the corners of her eyes. Those beads of liquid scared Hitsugaya more than the reiatsu catastrophe; he had only known the girl for a short time, but he knew enough to know that she was incredibly strong, mature and stable emotionally. What she saw must have really freaked her out, lowered her guard and weakened her grip on her feelings.

"We'll worry about her later, okay? But I've got to get you home first."

"You don't get it – I need to see her now!"  
Toshiro shook his head vigorously, frustrated by the whole situation. "Your spiritual exchange did something to her physical spirit. I don't think she's going to show up until later in the week."

"You can't be serious."

"I am," he assured her, gravely. "So calm down and let me get you away. The last thing I need is a Hollow coming after you in this state." Indeed Karin's spiritual pressure was ebbing out in uneven amounts, sometimes small feeble trickles followed with loud blasts. He bent down beside her, sitting on his knees. For a moment, he studied her, wordlessly taking in her trembling legs and labored breathing. Then he closed his eyes and exhaled softly before crawling around her on the sidewalk. "Hop on," he said with as much dignity as he could muster.

"Wha-?" She was cut off as Toshiro scooped her off the then hauled her onto his back, in a familiar position._ Toshiro is giving me...... a piggy-back ride? _Karin felt her face flush, as she considered this, but decided tactfully not to look into it. Toshiro began walking, just as silent as her.

* * *

There was a time when Ichigo would always offer her piggy-backs home after soccer practice. Ages ago when everything wasn't as complicated. She had idolized her brother back then, and would secretly be overjoyed with the occasions when this would happen. It was an odd connection, her brother and Toshiro, but it was there, and it soothed her. Maybe she was just loopy and going into shock. Still..... Irrationally calm, Karin rested her cheek against Toshiro's shoulder. Then her thoughts returned to Hana.

"Hey, Toshiro?"

"Mm?" The boy sounded like he was deep in thought.

"How does that Soul Reaper what's-it work? The thing where you exorcise ghosts?"

"Konso?"

"Aa, that."

"Well," Toshrio readjusted his grip on her as he answered. "It's a simple procedure, we just tap the spirit with the hilt of our zanpakuto. That transforms the spirit into a hell butterfly, so it can find its way to Soul Society." He still seemed out of it.

Karin nodded, thinking. "And you said that Soul Society was a little like living in this world, didn't you?"

"It's not as complicated, anyways. I grew up in an okay district of Rukongai, but if a spirit ends up in one of the nastier parts they wouldn't be so fond of the place."

"Oh," Karin said. "It's not really like moving on, Konso, is it?"

"I guess not."

There was a short pause while Karin pondered something. Then: "Toshiro, I don't want you to perform Konso on Hana."

"What? Why?"

"I don't think she's ready yet," Karin answered simply.

"If I leave her as she is she'll be in danger - "

"I think, if I get a chance to meet with her, she'll find the strength to move on by herself."

Hitsugaya sighed. "You better hope you're right about that theory." Karin translated that as a 'yes'.

They fell into another strange silence.

"Shiro-chan?"

An annoyed sigh. "Yeah?"

"Why haven't you asked me what I experienced happen? With the girl and her death?"

"You want to talk about it?" he asked, doubtful.

"Not really. I just figured _you_ would. Duty of a shinigami and all that stuff....."

Hitsugaya managed to shrug, despite her presence on his back. "I want to ask, but I'm sure you don't want to answer. When you're ready to tell me, I'll be around."

Karin stared at her friend, a little dumbstruck. Then her expression melted into a small smile. "Thanks."

"Sure thing, Kuro-chan."

She smacked him on his shoulder. "Don't call me that!" His steps didn't falter when she hit him.

They did, however, when a perplexing mist formed on the sidewalk in front of him. The late-afternoon sunlight shimmered oddly around the gas and the pair watched as it slowly formed into the shape of a girl. Hana. She blinked, surprised to find herself away from the hotel.

Karin's reiatsu twitched, as she locked eyes with the girl. Her body (or mind?) experienced a brief rush of agony, a mere echo of the death. She felt overwhelmed and sickly.

"Karin-onee-san." The spirit greeted, smiling warmly at the person she addressed. _I guess she reappeared as Karin's spiritaul pressure stabilized. That's strange - are they connected now? It seems so, she so informal with Karin now. _He recalled her timid demeanor that he had witnessed earlier.

Karin smiled back, her eyes unflinching, even as she quelled down her nausea. _Bonded because I felt the pain of her death? Or maybe it's just that I was her age when I lost my mother......  
_

"Hana-chan, I want to talk to you," Karin began. Whatever life-altering words she was sure to conjure up next were blown out of her mind as Hitsugaya's Soul Pager went off.

The unmistakable scream of a Hollow sounded, directly above them. Karin, still perched on Toshiro's back, didn't even have time to look up.

In a blink of an eye, Hitsugaya abandoned his gigai by use of a Soul Candy. In one practiced motion, he leapt up and cut upward through the Hollow as it descended upon them. He landed on the ground, and the Hollow dissipated above him. With the spiritual particles shining in the air, it almost looked like it was snowing. And Toshiro looked...........

"Is he your guardian angel?" Hana asked, eyes following Toshiro's shinigami form.

Karin didn't answer.

Besides, she felt kinda silly. During the attack, Toshiro's gigai had opted to holding her in his arms like an infant. So the last bit of dignity she had maintained on the boy's back was shredded. Embarrassed, Karin tried to ease herself out of the boy's death-grip. The gigai didn't budge.

Now a bit annoyed, she furrowed her eyebrows. "Toshiro Hitsugaya, what the hell is wrong with your gigai?"

"Huh?" The white-haired boy walked back towards them.

"He won't let me _down_." Karin struggled in the body's arm for emphasis.

"It's protecting you. Stop throwing a fit."

"The Hollow's gone - there's nothing dangerous around here."

"So he's being cautious; you could learn something from that."

"Are you sure he's even an artificial soul? He doesn't talk. It's kinda creepy."

"You are so immature."

Hana blinked as the two continued their verbal spar. _The angel's brash attitude was at odds with his protectiveness for the girl,_ she sensed._ I wish I had a guardian angel like Karin-onee_, she thought. _I assumed Otou-san would fufill that role, but seeing as I'm dead and Mom isn't...... I guess she moved on without me._

"Um, guys," Hana finally spoke aloud. They turned to spot her, shifting uncomfortable even as she floated above the sidewalk. "I need to get home."

Karin snapped back to attention. She hopped out of Toshiro's arms just as he re-entered his gigai and brushed herself off, then answered Hana's statement. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, you being all alone, Hana-chan."

"What do you mean? I've been there by myself for a while." _What is she worried about?_

Karin shook her head. "Okay, tell ya what? I'll make Shiro-chan take you home and keep an eye on you. Then I'll come visit you tomorrow, because I want to talk to you again. You just have to promise to stay out of trouble until then, alright?" She poked the spirit's forehead. And ignored the strange invasion of emotions the interaction brought.

"Hai," the spirit answered, still confused.

"So, 'Shiro, you have a problem with this?"

"I was going to do that anyways," he scoffed.

"Good. Well, I guess I'm off the hook for training tomorrow, eh?"

"Aa," he then swept off down the block, with Hana trailing behind him. "Be safe," he said before he rounded the corner and left her sight.

Karin stared after the two, bemused.

**part one of a two-part filler. it's supposed to resemble episode 5 a bit, but it's going to be a bit less structured, obviously.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ugh. Yo estoy muy cansada. =I am very tired.= I'm posting this early Sunday morning, and I plan on sleeping for the rest of the weekend. -___-**

**Anyways, thanks for the reviews Turtle-chan, lazyguy, Nightraze, KKH913, mary-loki, & KKtheProphet.**

**I'm glad that nobody was wigged out by my kinda OC, Hana. She's gonna be a little important to the plot, like any spirit is on Bleach, I guess. Not that they deal with individual pluses anymore..... And I've never written anything before this, so yeah, hope this story doesn't suck. :]**

The next day Kurosaki Karin persuaded Yuzu to take a detour on the way home from school. "I just need to pick up something before I go to a friend's house," was her excuse.

"Oh, are you meeting Hitsugaya-san's parents?" Yuzu asked.

"No," Karin rolled her eyes. "I'm not even sure if the brat has parents."

"That's horrible!"

"I was kidding, 'Yuze." Placating her sister had become second nature over the years.

"Why haven't you invited him over for dinner yet? I'm sure Dad would like to meet him."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Karin muttered.

But nonetheless, Yuzu followed Karin to a local market. If Yuzu was befuddled when Karin purchased a bag filled with koi fish, she said nothing. Her sister departed once they left the store, so Karin made her way to the apartment complex she come across yesterday.

Deciding to make up for the missed session the previous day, Karin inhaled slowly and willed her spirit to relax. The circle exercise repeated itself inside her head, so when she found Toshiro leaning beside the building she was disappointed that he had already noticed her presence.

"I'm really not getting better at this spirit masking stuff, am I?" Karin greeted.

"Good afternoon to you, Kuro-chan." Toshiro rolled his eyes. Then he jerked his head behind him. "The spirit's all yours." On cue, Hana materialized by his shoulder.

"Karin-onee chan! Hitsugaya-taicho barely talked to me all day!" the girl whined.

"Taicho?" Karin narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"It's my proper title," he responded.

"Whatever," she let it drop and directed her attention to Hana. "Hello, Hana-chan. I brought you a gift." She conjured the bag of fish out of her school bag. And the child's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Domo arigato, onee san!" she sang, grabbing the bag quickly, but softly enough so as not to disturb the fishies.

Karin smiled at the spirit and sank to the ground, taking a seat in front of the building. She leaned her back against the wall of the complex. Wistfully, she watched as Hana spoke to the fishes, complimenting each one on their pretty colors. She was ridiculous, and childlike, and reminded Karin of Ichigo and Yuzu when they had been much younger. A few peaceful moments passed before Karin spoke again. "I went to the Sakura festival with my sister a year ago. Was that the one you wanted to go to for your birthday?"

"Aa," the girl nodded, studying the colorful fish with a cheerful demeanor.

"We wore kimonos to it too. I have a picture in my wallet. I'll show it to you sometime."

Hana smiled. "Oka-san brought me a kimono to wear to the festival. It was really pretty: dark blue with a lotta flowers on it." Hana looked up at Karin and displayed her dimples. "Hana means flower, did you know?"

Karin nodded, and replied, "Karin is a type of flower, I'm told. A quince, I believe. Not very appropriate, I think." Karin rolled her eyes. Then her expression grew solemn. "I'm sorry that your mother never had the chance to take you."

"Yeah," Hana murmured, saddened too. She kept her eyes on the fish as she spoke. "I was really mad at her at first. I was so angry that she had just forgotten about my birthday and everything. But then.... Then I felt really bad when I learned what happened."

Karin nodded, sympathetically. Empathetically. "You know, my mother died too." Hana looked up at this. "Yeah. She was picking up my older brother from his martial arts lesson. Never came home." Funnily enough, Karin's face broke into a grin, a little disturbing after retelling such a depressing event. Apparently she had thought of something that happened in the past. "I remember she promised that Yuzu and I would have separate birthday parties. It was in June she died, but in May my sister and I sorta had a catastrophic birthday party. I got into the fight with one of Yuzu's friends." Karin shook her head, oddly fond of the memory. "So Mom promised that the next year my friends could come to my party, and Yuzu would have her own. Of course she went off and died a month after she made that promise." She grinned her lopsided grin down at Hana, as if her mother's death wasn't a sensitive topic.

Hitsugaya watched the interaction with interest. Both of the two girls seemed to have forgotten his presence anyways. It was sort of strange, seeing Karin converse with the child and listening to the girl's tale of her childhood. Sort of strange, but sort of nice.

"I wish I had an older sibling. You're the closest thing I've ever had to a sister," Hana told Karin.

"Thanks, kid." Karin slung her arm over the ghost and mashed her face into a grin. Hana sqeauled when Karin mussed up her hair. And Karin noticed that her mind was invaded with foreign emotions from the spirit again, but this time they weren't so sad.

* * *

Hitsugaya stretched his neck side to side, a little tired of sleeping on the roof of a building. He was agitated for other reasons besides his apparent insomnia. The spirit and Kurosaki Karin were proving to be a troublesome matter. Karin bonding with the spirit may or may not benefit the spirit. The ghost had bonded with Karin over their similar pasts, but this development could be good or bad. Though it was true that Karin had given the girl's spirit strength, Hana seemed to have become very attached to Karin, in such a short span of time too. It was a bit amazing.... but also it was a slippery situation. Karin may become a tether, binding the spirit to the World of the Living. Which was never a good thing.

Exhaling, his breath formed a small cloud in the crisp evening air. He glanced around the area of the apartment complex. It was a bit past sundown, and the stars were already visible in the lilac pink expanse. Actually, the shinigami had an excellent view of the sky from the top of the complex. The only reason he was so uneasy was that he kept assessing the ghost girl's situation. _No, he was not worrying. _That he couldn't see the Kurosaki clinic from here made little difference, as he could sense Karin's torrent of energy all the way across town. So that definitely wasn't the reason he was feeling restless either, he convinced himself.

_Kurosaki Karin makes things so,_ Hitsugaya vented, _difficult. _Compared to her brother...... They were both similar and different. He wondered if that wer true for her and Yuzu. A slow yawn built up, and Hitsugaya beat it down with difficulty. He wasn't sure if he could sleep yet, though.....

His Soul Pager sounded, its sharp alert cutting through his aimless thoughts. He flipped it open, thinking to himself that an Arrancar invasion was the last thing he needed. Really, he shouldn't be fiddling around with common spirits anyways....Then he read the screen. His eyes widened.

* * *

Kurosaki Karin sat outside the bathroom door, while Yuzu brushed her teeth within. The bathroom's bright fluorescent lights lit up a stripe across the hallway and illuminated part of the twin's bedroom.

"I think I'm going to take a shower, Karin-chan." Yuzu poured out a small container of mouthwash. "Do you wanna join me?" Yuzu asked after she had spat the liquid out.

"No thank you." _Yuzu, you can be so odd sometimes. _Karin hid her reaction with a strained smile that Yuzu seemed to accept.

"Suit yourself," Yuzu shrugged as she grabbed the door knob. "I remember the three of us kids used to take baths together all the time."

"Yeah, I really miss those times." Karin's sarcasm was lost on Yuzu, who shut the door gently. Seconds later Karin heard the rush of flowing water. The raven-haired girl simply shook her head at her twin's antics before returning to her room. She hopped up on her bed, not bothering to get under the covers, simply sitting atop the soft mattress.

Soon, her thoughts drifted to Hana and Toshiro. Her gaze also drifted, to her window. _I hope Toshiro manages to get a good night's sleep in tonight._ The boy had seemed weary when she had seen him that afternoon. She would have to remember to thank him, when Hana was finally at peace in the other world.

Karin smiled. Hana was just as a little kid should be: a little naïve, very innocent, and unsure. In contrast, Toshiro seemed very aged despite being so young. And it wasn't because he had lived longer in the Soul Society. More like, he had seen more, in his stretched lifetime, than he could take in at his age. _He really needs to relax._

Karin flopped down on her mattress and stretched then allowed herself to relax, and she listened to the shower's drone. Before she could fully bask in the serenity of the moment, a tremor ran up her spine.

_Hollow. ....... _There was an spiritual monstrosity on the loose. Again. What was wrong with this town anyway? Then she heard the shower faucet squeak and realized suddenly, _Yuzu and Dad are in danger! Kuso! _

She leapt off her bed and flew down the stairs. A foggy plan was forming in her mind: meet the Hollow head-on, and maybe she could defeat the thing before it endangered anybody. In theory, it was flawless. But this Hollow's reiatsu felt more powerful than other's she had taken out with a soccer ball. She might be able to run away from the thing, if worst came to worst. Her spiritual awareness led her a few streets away from her home before she finally glimpsed the creature.

It was enormous and snake-like. And yet, there wasn't anything particularly special apart it, nothing that set it apart from other Hollow she had encountered, aside from its monstrous size. Yet it seemed..... familiar? The Hollow roared, a horrible and dead shrieking noise that seemed rather desolate. Then it hurdled its lengthy body towards her.

Reacting quickly, Karin threw her weight to the side as the monster barreled past and crashed into the sidewalk. Her body rolled shortly across the pavement, but she flipped back onto her feet with a push from her hand. The Hollow too had recovered. It turned to face her once more.

_Shit, what do I do?_ Karin couldn't think of an offense and continued to dodge her opponent's next round of assaults helplessly. There had to be something to do. _Yuzu and Dad are still in danger. _This recurring thought kept Karin's strength up, at the least, and she kept up with her avoidance maneuvers.

_I'm not getting anywhere with this! _Came the frustrating thought. She had been jumping about in circles for nearly a minute, and she was already aching. Her knees were cut up from her last-second dodges, and if she didn't do something soon, the Hollow would get past her. But Karin was at loss as to how she could damage the creature. She didn't have a soccer ball, or any type of weapon, projectile or otherwise.

Then the Hollow paused its pursuit momentarily, and Karin seized the opening in her brute fashion._ Offense is the best defense, _Karin reasoned, and with that she flung herself at the Hollow, kicking the thing's skull. And it cracked!......... Then the creature screamed, shaking its head about in apparent agony from the injury. It flailed desperately, then launched its head into the pavement, Karin with it. The girl smashed into the sidewalk, her breath leaving her in a gasp when the Hollow's weight settled upon her.

Black..... and crushing pain. That was all Karin knew for those slow seconds.

Then a voice cut through the fog in her mind, with the summoning: "Reign over the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

_Toshiro._ Karin thought briefly. Then she concentrated on resisting her body's urge to black out. With (minimal) success.

_* * *_

Traveling at what he deemed a maddeningly sluggish pace, Hitsugaya finally descended upon his destination. He had a glimpse of Karin, perfectly alright if not a bit battered, bashing the Hollow's face in. "Atta' girl," he said softly, as he fell down towards them. But next, the Hollow thrashed about in the air before smashing the child into the pavement. They collided with a sickening screech of gravel and bone.

For a moment, Hitsugaya saw red.

A rage brewed inside of him, just as it had during his fight with Gin. The need to protect drew out a feral snarl from his gut, and rang forth the shout, "Reign over the Frosted Heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

But even as he brandished his blade and chain, he found that was faced with an obstructing dilemma. He could not attack the Hollow, as he dearly wished to do. Karin was sprawled underneath the creature's form, laying like a broken doll, eyes wide with pain. Carefully, Hitsugaya controlled his fury and swept his sword over the Hollow's skull, cutting a large sliver off. The attack was met with a (satisfying) shriek of pain from the Hollow. However, he had not slain the thing, merely cut off the corner of its mask. The Hollow, again, writhed in pain, relinquishing its position atop the girl. Its movements were wild, scary, and unpredictable as it et out a scream that was both human and demonic.

Deciding and acting quickly, Hitsugaya dashed in and adopted a defensive stance in front of Karin. He prepared to shield her from their enemy's next strike, but the thing instead crashed towards the ground again. The thing, to Hitsugaya's bewilderment, burrowed underground and fled the clearing.

Hitsugaya chanced a look behind him to evalutate Karin's state. Her body was bruised, and she was bleeding at random intervals across her tiny frame. Chips of gravel were indented uncomfortable into her skin, and a fine layer of dust covered her hair. But her eyes. Her eyes were widened with her pupils the smallest he'd seen them. She stared after the Hollow, and whispered, "Oka-san." A chip of the Hollow's mask lay a few feet away, in the street.

And Hitsugaya realized that Karin's trepidation had little to do with her injuries.

"We need to save Hana," Karin said.

**Yup. ANOTHER cliffy. Just because this seemed okay for dramatic effect. **

**And I'm probably gonna post the second part of this chapter later in the week-end, but for now, this seems like an appropriate pause. And I need sleep anyways. So I'll update again later Sunday or on Monday. **

**And now I'ma go sleep. -__-  
**


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